I-read, I-come, I-review

Back in Action

2009-05-05T01:27:00.003+08:00

If you have reviews of interesting books or if there are any kind of book events, do drop me an email.

Fun Times at Plaza Singapura Atrium (1 - 7 Sept 08)

2008-08-28T12:46:00.003+08:00

Book swapping up your alley? Click here for more information!

A Note from the Webmaster of DebbiesIdea.com

2007-06-10T21:57:00.000+08:00

Do hop over for a look!

"The site serves as a forum for users to discuss which book to read first of an unfamiliar author. The idea is to head off reading mishaps that may turn a reader off to a great writer. For example, a reader who starts reading Trollope with "The Eustace Diamonds" or "The Way We Live Now" may well go on to read dozens more of his books, but one with the bad luck to happen to read his forgettable "Lady Anna" first would probably never read him again. Ditto the poor soul who embarks on Iris Murdoch with "Jackson's Dilemma" -- written not in her prime but when she was on her way into dementia -- rather than getting to know her through "The Good Apprentice," "The Sea, The Sea," or one of her many other superb novels.

The idea for the site came from the late Debbie Sankey, a lifelong reader who realized that starting with the wrong book might turn a reader off to a writer forever. Since it's almost always a matter of opinion, a collaborative website makes a great forum for discussion and debate. DebbiesIdea.com was created by a friend as a memorial to Debbie. Registration on the site is free for all users."

- Sam Maher

World Book Fair

2007-05-28T22:09:00.000+08:00

Leadership & Self-Deception-Getting Out of the Box

2007-02-20T00:10:00.000+08:00

Leadership & Self-Deception-Getting Out of the Box
by The Arbinger Institute
Reviewed by Fiona from The Advocate Group

I would like to share with you a book that I recently completed. It is called Leadership & Self-Deception - Getting Out of the Box by The Arbinger Institute. The way this group of people use concepts to explain our disgusting human tendency is simply amazing. If you read on, self-betrayal happens to every one of us. The fact that we sometimes do not honour our first sense makes us go into this mode of self-deception.

It may sound abstract to you initially like how it sounded to me when I first heard about this term "self-deception". If we had the urge or first sense to do something that we think would be helpful to the other, why do we not do it? Worse, we find means and ways to justify our selfish behaviour. When we are deeply trapped in the box, we feel the fury and anger dwelling in us. This goes to say, are we merely creating our own problems to frustrate ourselves?

We should stop and think twice about the power of this book. The teachings have greatly impacted my work life and family relations. All I can say is, it is amazing how theories can be used to explain my irrational behaviour, which I had always thought as rational when doing it.

Contributions from a reader

2007-02-19T23:32:00.000+08:00

Reviewed by J. G. Renaldy Chandra

Perfume
by Patrick Suskind

Born in 18th century France, Grenouille had the finest nose in the world. But he had no personal body odour. His nose was so fine that he can untangle the scent of Paris.

Once, when he was watching a fireworks show in the streets, he smelled a scent. A scent that was more beautiful than any other scent, more alluring than the finest perfume. He followed the scent to its source. Then he found that the source was a girl. He killed the girl and took away her scent, sniffing her whole body until her scent was his.

Later on in his life, he learnt how to make perfumes, how to extract scents from things. And suddenly, he had an idea, to create the greatest perfume in the world.

A perfume so great that the whole world will kneel under the user.

The novel is actually already made into a film which will be released around March maybe. It's a great book, even though I found the story a bit deranged, but really worth reading.This is one of the most exciting books I have ever read.

Suite Francaise
by Irene Nemirovsky

I have to say that for me, this book is one of the greatest books I have ever read. This book was translated from French to English.

The book itself was intended to be a 5-part "symphony" by the writer. She wrote it around 1941, when the Germans occupied France. There are only 2 parts of this book finished while the 3 others left unfinished. It was because the writer was captured and killed (or died from disease, I'm not sure) by the Nazis. It was said that this, what was supposed to be a 5-part novella, was inspired by Beethoven's 5th symphony. This book was never discovered until 64 years after the author died. It was written in a notebook which her daughter kept. She never read it because she thought it would be too hurtful. But when she decided to donate the book to a museum, she finally brought herself to read it, and inside she found one of the greatest literary treasures.

The first part of the book was called A Storm in June. It tells a story of groups of people fleeing Paris because of the invasions. It paints a vivid image in your mind of what was happening then, and combined with a cast of wonderful characters, it created such a great book.

The second part is called Dolce. This one tells you a story about after the invasion and life in a village under Germany's occupation, how enemies lived side by side, and how the Germans (enemies) were portrayed as human beings no different from all of us.

In the Book there are also 2 appendixes. The first one contains the author's notes on the rest of the books and the situation of France back then. The appendix contains much of her plan, the plot and the character she was going to use. The second appendix is a collection of letters by the author and other letters by her husband and friends. It shows how hard they tried to save the author, yet failed.

It really pains me that Suite Francaise is not finished. If it was to be finished, for me, it will be the equivalent of Beethoven's The 5th symphony.

The Girl with a Pearl Earring
by Tracy Chevalier
(Editor's link to author's site here)

I have read your blog, and found out that you've read Tracy Chevalier's work, the one called The Lady and the Unicorn. I've read all of her works, and to tell the truth, this book is my favorite.

It tells a story about old Holland (I can't remember the year), and about the life of Griet, a young woman wired to be a maid in the house of the famous painter Johannes Vermeer. Then the story revolves about her life at the house, how Vermeer later asked her to be his personal helper without anyone else knowing. And later, he painted her, creating the famous painting "Girl with a Pearl Earring".

The book is filled with Griet's internal conflicts, and the author actually manages to paint such a vivid picture of what was happening.

The book has been made into a film, starring Scarlet Johanssen and Colin Firth. It won a few Oscars in 2004.

Blindness
by Jose Saramago

This is a disturbing story about Blindness. How would you feel if, one second you were waiting for the green light on the road, then suddenly everything went white. White, not black. This new blindness, called the white blindness, spreads like a horrible contagious desease. And soon everyone becomes blind except for one person. An eye doctor's wife.

In this book, you will be taken into an imaginary world, seeing chaos through the eyes of a simple doctor's wife. Seeing all the horrible things happening. Seeing Blindness.

This is a very intriguing book. It is disturbing, yet it keeps you reading until the last page. It is truly a great book.

The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak

This one is about a girl who lived in the era of the Nazis. After being separated from her family and later adopted into a new family, she quickly adapted to live in her new place. She found comfort and shelter in words printed in books. Later, a Jew came to her house asking for help to hide him somewhere in the house. The father accepted him. And so began a strange relationship between a Jew and a little girl.

This book is really really good. And the unique thing is that most of the story was told by Death. This book teaches us about the power of words and that we are all nothing without words.

Antarctica on a Plate

2007-01-04T00:01:00.000+08:00

Antarctica on a Plate - Misadventures of a Polar Chef
By Alexa Thomson

Reviewed by Claudine

Imagine this. You have never been to Antarctica or anywhere extreme for that matter.
You work as a web designer for an investment bank, lead a high life and have anything you want materially.
But you are languishing in discontent, sick of your current lifestyle and of being single and desperately want a change in circumstances.
Would you throw away your job, take on the unknown perils of Antarctica and hack out a life there as a chef for 3 months?

Well, according to Alexa, yes.

That was precisely what she did. She wangled her way through the interview to land a job as a chef on the one of the most inhospitable continents on earth. Madness, some may say. But this is why the book is truly enjoyable. You laugh at her amateurish ways in handling everything, aka wide-eyed teenager fashion, from firing up the stoves (literally, with flames licking the top of the cooking tent), hedging her way out of sticky situations (just act cool and pretend that you think you know what to do), to singlehandedly defrosting and serving up delectable meals, using only basic kitchen amenities, for sometimes more than 70 people at a time with huge amounts of food and ingredients stored in an ice cave (what a freezer!).

But you also marvel at her ingenuity and ability to cope with the harsh and nightmarish conditions there. Somehow, she managed to find fun there, built a deep camaraderie with other people through countless card and table games, zoomed over the surface of Antarctica in a skidoo and jumped (Alexa and her colleague, Lisa, actually screeched ‘Yee-haaaa!’) at the offer of a sauna bath on a Russian base there. You cannot help but savour the delight of the sauna bath along with her after realizing she had gone without a hot bath for a month or two. The experience living there is really out of this world and it is not something many amateurs would dare to take on but she did. She brought out the awe and beauty of Antarctica and we learn to respect the great continent and that we are but mere specks existing on its huge surface and we live according to its rules and timing, whether we like it or not. And of all the most unlikely places, Alexa found love.

This is a truly a travel book with a difference.

One Hundred and One Days

2007-01-03T23:55:00.000+08:00

One Hundred and One Days
By Asne Seierstad

Reviewed by Claudine

One hundred and one days – that is the length of time Asne Seierstad stayed in Iraq before and during and after the invasion of Iraq in April 2003. She takes us to the streets of Baghdad and other parts of Iraq, interviewing people, reporting stories and scenes which we would not have otherwise seen in the news. In this book, one realizes that in war, there are no victors, only victims. Families who lose their homes and loved ones in an instant to missile attacks. Children and young people, whose lives are scarred forever, by wounds they sustain. Perhaps one of the most moving stories for me is about Ali, a 12 year old boy, who lost his family and home to an American missile. Covered in burns, he had his arms amputated in order to save his life and it was extremely heart-rending to hear him ask Seierstad, ‘Can I have my hands back?’ This is just one of the many painful stories she relates in her book. The book is mostly conversational in style effectively conveying the immediacy and intensity of the emotions churning and exploding within the Iraqis. It makes for gripping reading from page to page and the reader finds himself, like the Iraqis, helplessly caught up in the whirl of events that hurtle forward.

All in all, this book describes the under-represented perspectives and experiences of the Iraqi people which draws us into their little-known world and helps us gain a better understanding as to why some of them looked forward to the war while many others harboured a deep seated hatred towards it leading to the chaotic disunity and ambiguity which we see in present-day Iraq.

That Undeniable Longing

2007-01-01T21:37:00.000+08:00

That Undeniable Longing
by Mark Tedesco
reviewed by Jase (Jason Ruel)
BellaOnline's Gay Lesbian Editor

"In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen. Judica me, Deus, et discerne causam meam de gente non sancta: ab homine iniquo et doloso erue me. Emitte lucem tuam et veritatem tuam: ipsa me deduxerunt et adduxerunt in montem sanctum tuum, et in tabernacula tua. Spera in Deo, quoniam adhuc confitebor illi: salutare vultus mei, et Deus meus. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto" so sayeth the Priest during mass on Sunday.

This is the life of a Priest. A life filled with Latin, filled with lambs, filled with G-d. It is a life of celibacy, of poverty, of charity. It is a life filled with listening to the woes of the people, their sins, and giving the forgiveness through Jesus Christ, The Lord. This is the life of a man who has dedicated himself to G-d and the church, to the people, to His flock. After nearly 8 plus years, countless hours of prayer, devotion, and spiritual struggle. After a four-year degree, a post-graduate degree, many sleepless nights filled with fear and dread. This is a Priest. This is the life of a Priest. This is the life of a Gay Priest!

"In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Do me justice, O God, and fight my fight against an unholy people, rescue me from the wicked and deceitful man. Send forth Thy light and thy truth: for they have led me and brought me to thy holy hill and Thy dwelling place. Trust in God, for I shall yet praise Him, my Savior, and my God. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost."

These words, as translated from the Latin above, are the words that Mark Tedesco heard and said on a daily basis. As a Priest-to-be, Mark struggled with not only his family and his faith, but also with his life as a closeted gay man. In his book That Undeniable Longing: My Road to AND from THE Priesthood, Mark Tedesco recounts his life, well roughly ten years of his life, of going from faithful Catholic parishioner to being a full-fledge Catholic Priest… and then back to being a "normal" Joe.

This book captivates the reader from page one when he wonders if questioning life and your past is a side-effect of being middle-aged. "How did I arrive at this point? Could I ever have imagined, long ago on a winter day in Rome, that I would find myself on this new path, my dreams not shattered, but transformed. And that elusive, relentless desire, for happiness – where is it leading me?" He sparks our imagination, at least those of us who are 30-something and older, of the days gone by. He makes us think about our past, and if we would have done anything differently. He makes us think about the lessons, the little "–isms" we have learned and discovered.

The life of a Priest is hard, as we learn. It is a life filled with monotony, with repetitiveness, and without much spontaneity. It is a life filled with being the moral grounding of a faith that is large and far reaching. To influence the lives of others is a path that many are not willing to take. Young Mark discovers this and so much more on his little journey known as the priesthood. From being an oblate in a monastery in the hills of Italy, to being kicked out, and then once again accepted by another seminary, Mark's adventure both captivates and invigorates you in addition to upsetting and angering you. In light of all the controversy surrounding Priests and sexual abuse, it is no wonder that a gay man not only questions his faith in the Church, but also in himself and his relationship with the Almighty above. The journey of understanding is not an easy one, which those who have had time to live a little bit more on this planet know all to well. The life of a gay man, and the struggle to not only accept yourself, but to reject others non-acceptance is also a journey filled with fears, tears and personal struggle. To go through both is killer, but one journey "Father Mark" accomplished.

This book is filled with controversy, with personal struggle not only with self-acceptance and faith, but also with the Catholic World. You will laugh, you will possibly cry, and you will most undoubtedly come to learn from the struggle both without and within. This book is quite well written and addicting from page one. I could not put it down and read it from cover to cover. It made me examine my faith and the faith of others. It made me reminisce about coming to terms with being a person of faith, being a gay man, and being a gay man with faith.

Discover more about the priesthood, about man, about faith, about life, about your life in this book. I did, and I know you will too!

Content copyright © 2007 by Jason P. Ruel. All rights reserved.
This content was written by Jason P. Ruel. If you wish to use this content in any manner, you need written permission. Contact Jason P. Ruel for details.
Original publication of this review may be found at http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art46971.asp
Reprinted with permission by Jason P. Ruel via email.

Jocelynn's Hauls

2007-01-01T17:19:00.000+08:00

The Latest Additions to Claudine's Library

2007-01-01T02:35:00.000+08:00

1) A Distant Shore by Caryl Philips

2) Frangipani by Celestine Hitiura Vaite

3) Natural Flights of the Human Mind by Clare Morrall

4) McCarthy's Bar by Pete McCarthy

5) Take Me with You by Brad Newsham (I've been trying to get this book ever since I spotted it on the NLB shelves some months back. None of the bookshops here carry it. My swift fingers grabbed it out of the box where it was sitting pretty. It's in hard cover and in excellent condition and it's only $8!! The story is about Newsham's 100 day journey around the world searching for the right person to invite home to America.)

6) Notes to a Working Woman -Finding Balance, Passion and Fulfillment in Your Life by Luci Swindoll

7) How to be a Hero to your Kids by Josh McDowell and Dick Day

8) The New Dare to Discipline by Dr James Dobson

9) The New Strong-Willed Child by Dr James Dobson.

10)Preparing your Daughter for Every Woman's Battle by Shannon Ethridge
(Well, yeah, I have two girls and yeah, as some of you who are parents out there already know, it's a battle every day with kids. Ha ha. Oh but there are also days of sunshine with them that I wouldn't exchange for anything else.)

Adelynn's Latest Additions

2006-12-30T19:47:00.001+08:00

Travel
Updated (New additions in italics)

1. Travellers' Tales - Grand Canyon
2. Travellers' Tales - A Woman's Passion for Travel
3. Travellers' Tales - Unbeaten Tracks in Japan by Isabella L. Bird
4. Travellers' Tales - The Rivers Ran East by Leonard Clark
5. Travellers' Tales - Kite Strings of the Southern Cross by Laurie Gough
6. Travellers' Tales - A Mother's World
7. Travellers' Tales - Testosterone Planet
8. Travellers' Tales - The Fire Never Dies by Richard Sterling
9. Travellers' Tales - Central America
10. Travellers' Tales - Ireland
11. Travellers' Tales - Mexico
12. Travellers' Tales - Hawai'i
13. Travellers' Tales - The Way of the Wanderer by David Yeadon
14. Travellers' Tales - The Royal Road to Romance by Richard Halliburton
15. Snowball Oranges - One Mallorcan Winter by Peter Kerr
16. Flat Feet and Full Steam - Around the World in Any Way by Christopher Portway
17. Bitten By the Bullet - Motorcycle Adventures in India by Steve Krzystyniak and Karen Goa
18. McCarthy's Bar by Dave McCarthy
19. Hold the Enlightenment by Tim Cahill
20. The Gift of Rivers
21. At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig by John Gimlette
22. Avoiding Prison + Other Noble Vacation Goals by Wendy Dale (I realised I've already read this; anyone wants to buy it for $5?)
23. Storybook Travels by Colleen Dunn Bates & Susan Latempa
24. Sun, Sand and Soul - A Little Bit of Heaven on Holiday by Lionel Blue & Jonathan Magonet
25. Being a Man... in the Lousy Modern World by Robert Twigger
26. A House in Corfu by Emma Tennant
27. Facing Athens by George Sarrinkolaou
28. A Voyage by Dhow by Norman Lewis

Whew! Hang on. There're more!

Others

29. The Bad Mother's Handbook by Kate Long
30. The House Husband by Owen Whitaker
31. Le Mariage by Diane Johnson (Disclaimer: These 3 titles don't mean I'm anywhere near marriage or being a mother yet!)
32. The Man from Perfect by Andrea Semple
33. The Love Resort by Faith Bleasdale
34. The Reluctant Landlady by Bernadette Strachan
35. Do You Promise Not to Tell? by Mary Jane Clark
36. Butterfly Song by Eva Rice
37. Honeymoon by Amy Jenkins
38. Breathing Room by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
39. Call me Cowboy/She's the One by Judy Duarte & Patricia Kay respectively
40. Past Imperfect/Her Special Charm by Crystal Green & Marie Ferrarella respectively
41. Sick as a Parrot by Liz Evans
42. Fame Game by Claudia Pattison
43. The Tenko Club by Elizabeth Noble
44. Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About by Mil Millington
45. A Groom in Her Stocking/Suddenly Single by Barbara Dunlop & Millie Criswell respectively

Total cost: $224!!

The Books Warehouse sale is on till 2 Jan. Do go down and check out the travel section, though most of the gems are probably in my room right now. :p

Times Warehouse Sale

2006-12-28T22:52:00.000+08:00

What: The Books Warehouse Sale (by Times the Bookshop)
When: 29 Dec 06 to 2 Jan 07
Time: 10 am to 9 pm daily
Where: Singapore Expo Hall 4B

A Mighty Heart

2006-11-29T22:14:00.000+08:00

A Mighty Heart by Mariane Pearl with Sarah Crichton

Reviewed by Claudine

In this book, Mariane Pearl tells her account of the story of her husband, Danny Pearl, who was kidnapped and murdered in Karachi, Pakistan. Interspersed in the account are touching personal portraits of their loving marriage that makes his sudden and untimely death even harder to accept.

Despite knowing the outcome of the story, one cannot help but be drawn into the web of events from start till end. One marvels at the courage and determination of Mariane as she organizes the search for her husband systematically and logically, turning Danny’s friend’s house into an information centre and drawing links from clues so as to locate her husband’s whereabouts. Together with both local and international investigators, they piece together the links to the mastermind and kidnapper, which proves to be frustrating because each man in the kidnapping chain is an isolated pawn who knows little about the entire operation or about who is above him in the hierarchy.

It reads like a fast paced political thriller but the chilling factor lies in the fact that this is more than real and it is still taking place in parts of the world. This book reveals the complexity of the operations behind the kidnappings of foreigners and why it is so difficult to nail the mastermind or to launch a rescue mission. Marianne exposes the intricate network in fundamentalist Islamic militancy which allows culprits to remain elusive. This book also espouses the risks which correspondents and journalists face in search of good reporting, sometimes at the expense of their lives.

Readers will feel the despair and mounting desperation of Mariane as she searches for Danny in a race against time. When news of Danny’s brutal death is verified, it shocked me as were many people around the world who were watching the events unfold.

Driven by the desire for truth and justice, Mariane wrote this book for her son, Adam, so that he would know that his ‘father was not a hero but an ordinary man. An ordinary man with a mighty heart.’

And so he was.

'A Mighty Heart' is now being made into a movie, starring Angelina Jolie. Be sure to catch it when it’s out on the big screen.

The book is available in the NLB and major bookstores.

Something to do this weekend

2006-11-18T21:02:00.000+08:00

What: The MV Doulos. The world's largest travelling bookstore - a missionary ship. It carries more than 6000 titles, mostly in English.

Where: Docked at The Promenade, Vivocity

When: Till tomorrow (19 Nov), 11 am - 8 pm; tours available on a first-come, first-served basis.

How much: Admission to the bookstore is free but the tour of the ship is $5 for adults, $3 for children.

PENGUIN BOOKS Warehouse Sale

2006-11-16T23:09:00.000+08:00

Date : 17 - 19 November 2006 (Friday to Sunday)

Time : 10am to 10pm

Venue : Singapore Expo Hall 6B

Children's books,
Fiction
Business
Self-help
Reference
Lifestyle
and more...

Payment by cash, Visa and Mastercard only

In the Wee Small Hours

2006-11-02T23:57:00.000+08:00

Reviewed by Claudine

Found this charming book on the NLB shelves.
I was first drawn to it by its cover, as a mother, in particular, to the boy with the pointy sword and his mother trailing after him. This book is about Annie Baker and her delightful life in the country and her job as a producer for advertisements in town.

The lines in the book which are mostly conversational sparkles with wit and humour and the story sails along taking you past familiar family conversations, sticky work situations, bonding sessions with girlfriends, dashes of romance and of course juggling the insane rush of daily routines. For those who have preschoolers who ask for the sky, the conversations or what Annie terms as ‘random chat sessions’ with her 6 year old son, Charlie, will have you chuckling.

Her comic capers at work are absolutely hilarious. You are taken behind the scenes of the world of advertisement productions where men are taped to windmills and spun around to promote wallpaper paste and where geography and weather know no limit. Annie has to arrange for the setups and make missions impossible possible. The next time you watch an advertisement, especially one shot outdoors in somewhat treacherous conditions, you might sit up and appreciate it a little better.

You fall in love not only with Annie, but also with the cast of colourful characters whom you grow attached to as the story progresses. In fact, when tragedy strikes towards the end, I shed tear a tear or two. It's one book I think I would like to keep on my shelf for a re-read. Erm. From the bookshop, of course.

Here’s an excerpt from the book during the filming of a scene involving some rather unfortunate ducks. (Disclaimer : I strongly believe no ducks were harmed in the writing of this scene.)

It’s the day of the duckpond shoot, so we’re in Wiltshire at five in the morning stumbling round the dark and trying not to fall in the sodding pond after spending most of yesterday in the studio getting the pack shots done. It’s freezing and once the dawn does appear we’ll only have a few minutes to get the shots we want, or we’ll have to come back tomorrow. So it’s all getting rather tense. We’ve hired a flock of tame ducks to sit in the middle of the pond, but so far they’re not having it and are sitting huddled under the trees sulking. The animal’s trainers starting to panic and so am I.
And then Barney has a brilliant idea.
‘Tell him to tie some string to their legs and tie bricks on the other end, and then he can plant them in the middle of the pond where we need them.’
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘Just go and tell him.’
‘Barney, I think I can safely say that’s one of the daftest ideas you’ve ever had.’
‘How else are you planning to get the f******* to stay where we want them then?’
I go over and talk to the trainer. And surprisingly he thinks it might be worth a try and starts measuring the depth of the pond with a stick. Dear god. I’m surrounded by nutters.
Half the crew hunt for bits of old brick and big stones and after a great deal of quacking and flapping the ducks are regrouped in the middle of the pond, and the trainer rows back in his inflatable boat to check they’re in the right position.
Barney’s delighted.
‘Perfect.’
The trainer looks very relieved.
‘They’ll settle down in a minute or two.’
And they do. Just as the light starts to change. And we’ve just got the first shot when I notice that the ducks seem to be shrinking.
The cameraman notices too.
‘Guv, aren’t they getting a bit low in the water?’
‘What?’
‘The ducks.’
‘What about the f******* ducks?’
Barney’s been concentrating on making sure the actor’s in the shot as he walks past the pond, playing farmer on his way to his fields, to grow the perfect frozen peas: ‘We get up early to make sure you don’t have to.’
‘I think they are sinking. That one in the middle is nearly up to its beak.’
‘Jesus Christ.’
The trainer’s noticed it too. ‘Stop. Stop. They’re sinking. You’re drowning my ducks.’ He’s running towards the boat.
‘Oh great. What’s he doing now?’ Barney turns to me, looking furious.
‘He’s rescuing his ducks, Barney. Before someone calls RSPCA.’
‘Just give me another minute.’
The duck man’s in the boat now, and the ducks are getting even lower. The stones must be sinking in the mud or something. Christ. I wonder if you can do mouth to mouth on a duck. Because I’ve got a horrible feeling we’re going to find out in a minute.

For more information on the book, check out the following link :
Fantastic Fiction

Writeaway

2006-11-01T22:30:00.000+08:00

Tonight I managed to actually get in contact with my favorite travel writer, Peter Moore, and he'll be sending over 1 copy of Writeaway, a CD ROM on travel writing. If I have the time after going through it (if I'm not planning my 1st travel novel, that is), I'd share some of the tips here with you.

Adelynn

(You can access Peter's blog at www.petermoore.net/blog/wordpress/.)

Drop Everything And Read !!!

2006-10-27T23:12:00.000+08:00

It's here again! The D.E.A.R programme by the NLB from 1 November 2006 to 31 January 2007.

You get to double your loan limit so if you usually borrow 4 books, you can now cart 8 books home! It's 16 books for you if you are a premium member! Doesn't that sound absolutely smashing?

There are other interesting activities including a DEAR-SilkAir quiz with air tickets to be won !

So what are you waiting for ? Go load up your arms with BOOKS !
Read your eyes out !

You must check out the details online at the following :

http://dl.nlb.gov.sg/highbrowseonline/2006/10/drop_everything_and_read_dear_1.html

Claudine :)

What is Chick Lit?

2006-10-01T22:08:00.000+08:00

Taken from chicklitbooks.com

The question has come up many times: What is chick lit?

The answer to that is not as simple as you might think. There is much speculation that chick lit is nothing more than "trash", "fluffy, mind-numbing garbage", "formulaic vapid prose", and more. I've heard it all, and then some. The problem I have with probably 99% of the people who say those things is that they haven't extensively read into the genre. So why are they labeling something they have little idea about?

Who knows?

Let me proceed to tell you what chick lit really is. First, I will establish my credentials to you: I have read at least 80% of the chick lit genre, so I feel well-equipped to answer such a question. I have read the good, I have read the bad, I have read a bit of it all. I have also read quite extensively into the British chick lit genre.

That said, chick lit is a genre comprised of books that are mainly written by women for women. The books range from having main characters in their early 20's to their late 60's. There is usually a personal, light, and humorous tone to the books. Sometimes they are written in first-person narrative; other time they are written from multiple viewpoints. The plots usually consist of women experiencing usual life issues, such as love, marriage, dating, relationships, friendships, roommates, corporate environments, weight issues, addiction, and much more.

So how does that differ from regular women's fiction, you might be wondering? Well, it's all in the tone. Chick lit is told in a more confiding, personal tone. It's like having a best friend tell you about her life. Or watching various characters go through things that you have gone through yourself, or witnessed others going through. Humor is a strong point in chick lit, too. Nearly every chick lit book I have read has had some type of humor in it. THAT is what really separates chick lit from regular women's fiction.

Chick lit is also a truly fascinating character study. That is one major factor that keeps me so interested in the genre. A chick lit author takes a character and puts them through a series of mostly realistic ordeals - many that many women can relate to. The end result is usually very interesting, detailed, fun-to-read and satisfying.

Another thing about chick lit is that regardless of the type of fictionalized story you are looking for - you can usually find it. Want to read about a young woman going to school in another country? There is at least one chick lit book about that. Are you interested in exploring pregnancy, childbirth, and related issues in a variety of different scenarios? Try a chick lit novel. Want to read about a woman who wants to lose weight, right a wrong in her life, make new friends, find a new place to live, get ahead in her career, figure out how to fix problems in her life by opening her heart, or get over an ex-boyfriend/husband who has really messed up her life? Try a chick lit book! These books range in topics all the way from dating and relationships to grieving over lost family members, cancer and miscarriages. And everything in between you can imagine. There are even chick lit books that explore religion and the paranormal.

So, why do rumors keep floating around that chick lit is "trash" or "vapid garbage"? First of all, there are certainly some chick lit novels that could be described that way. Not every chick lit book is great! Just like in any genre, you have your good, your so-so, and your bad. However, it's mostly the earlier novels that are excessively light, airy and frilly. As chick lit has evolved, the standard has gone up. Now you can find chick lit that is anywhere from light, frilly and glamourous to deep and meaningful. Sub-genres have also begun to spring up, such as "Mommy lit", "Mystery Lit", "Lad Lit", "Marriage Lit", and "Christian Chick Lit". And many others.

One important thing to note is that American chick lit is different in some ways than UK chick lit. I've ordered several novels from amazon.co.uk, and while I loved some of them, there were others I couldn't really get into. UK chick lit tends to be a bit lighter and somewhat frivolous at times. However, some of the novels are really funny - the British have a great sense of humor. And they did start the chick lit genre. We (Americans) have just let it evolve into different varieties.

Let me speak for a moment on the marketing and publishing side of chick lit. Marketing departments at chick lit publishing companies often package chick lit as a lot lighter and more daring than it really is. Why? I'm not sure exactly, except that it must draw more readers in that way. However, I'm imploring you now: don't be fooled. Some of the covers with embarrassing titles and pictures of legs or shoes or shopping bags are truly masking meaningful, touching, hilarious at times and wonderful chick lit stories.

There is another reason people keep calling chick lit "fluffy books about marriage-obsessed women with a penchant for shoes." A lot of hard-cover chick lit is based on women with glamourous careers and in the fashion and magazine industry. For some reason, some of the lightest, frilliest chick lit is published in hardcover, therefore bringing it to more reading audiences. Why? I'm not sure, to be honest. And some of the best, deepest, most well-written chick lit is hidden behind brightly colored covers with alluring titles. Or published under chick lit imprints that release 2 or more books per month.

However, that still doesn't give the media the right to attack chick lit! It's not the authors' fault that their books are marketed the way they are. Isn't it the media's responsibility to get their facts straight, and to thoroughly research something before making claims? If you can label an entire genre of books, shouldn't you read more than a few of them and seriously be able to back up your claims with proof? Um, yes.

But they don't! Ridiculous comments and insults are continued to be hurled at and about the chick lit genre. But whose fault is it really? The media and journalists, who enjoy trashing something to make themselves sound more educated? Or is it the publishers, because they continually market the books to be much more gossipy and glamourous then they really are? Or is it the people who just enjoy putting something down that they know little about? I'll leave that up to you, the reader, to decide who - if anyone - is to blame. I for one am tired of the ridiculous media and journalists putting down chick lit when they haven't read more than a few of the books. What reason, other than trying (and failing) to make themselves look intelligent, do they have to put something down they truly don't read?

Another aspect of chick lit bashing that I have had the misfortune of witnessing is mostly in regards to reviewers, reporters, and columnists. Often you will see a flashy headline to a review or article that belittles chick lit in some way. The writer of such an article enjoys putting an entire genre down just to make the book/author/subject they are writing about sound better. Now what I don't understand is, if the book/author/subject they are writing about is so good, why must they put something else down? Is putting down an entire genre, as well as hundreds of talented writers, supposed to convince someone that they should buy/read something else? Do they not have anything better to say about their book/author/subject? Apparently not!

I challenge you - read some trade-sized paperback chick lit before making any assumptions.

On a final note, don't mistake mass-market sized romance novels for chick lit. (Although many trade-sized paperbacks are being published in mass-market format now.) Do some research before making your claim. And please, don't go watch Bridget Jones's Diary 2 in the theater and claim to hate chick lit. I hated most things about that movie, but still love chick lit.

MPH Warehouse Sale

2006-09-30T01:53:00.000+08:00

This just in!

Date: 21 and 22 Oct (Sat and Sun)
Time: 9 am - 9 pm
Venue: Expo Hall 6B (Free Admission)
Comments: MPH Distributors is the Largest Importer and Distributor of English Language Books in Singapore. More than 300,000 Books of Various Subjects Selling at Between 30 to 80% Discounts.
Organiser: MPH DISTRIBUTORS (S) PTE LTD
Enquiries:
Tel: 65- 6450 6071
Fax: 65- 6457 0314
email: alina@mph.com.sg

New Bookcase Needed

2006-09-09T00:47:00.000+08:00

Adelynn's harvest from the Books Warehouse Sale:

Travel:-

1. Travellers' Tales Guides - Australia
2. Travellers' Tales Guides - Cuba
3. Travellers' Tales Guides - Nepal
4. Travellers' Tales Guides - Paris
5. Travellers' Tales Guides - San Francisco
6. Travellers' Tales Guides - Thailand
7. Travellers' Tales Guides - Tibet
8. Travellers' Tales Guides - Turkey
9. Travellers' Tales - Last Trout in Venice by Doug Lansky
10. Travellers' Tales - Shitting Pretty by Dr. Jane Wilson-Howarth
11. Pasquale's Nose: Adventures in a small town in Italy by Michael Rips

Others:

12. His "N" Hers by Mike Gayle
13. Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber by Adele Lang
14. Playing the Game by Sarah Sands
15. The Second Assistant by Clare Naylor and Mimi Hare
16. Too Wild/Sparking his Interest by Jamie Sobrato and Wendy Etherington respectively
17. To the Max/Kiss and Run by Darlene Gardner and Barbara Daly respectively
18. Archie Digest/Betty and Veronica Double Digest

The Memory of Running

2006-09-07T01:25:00.000+08:00

The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty
Reviewed by Claudine

Reading this book brings back to mind this particular part in the movie Forrest Gump where Gump took off on a 3 year run after the woman he loved, Jenny, left him suddenly. It was a journey he took to reflect on his life, though of course he did not realize it initially. Likewise, in this book, 43 year old Smithson Ide who weighs, eats and drinks too much, goes on an impromptu unprepared bicycle journey after the death of his parents in a car crash, coupled by the devastating news of the death of his long lost sister who had gone missing for 20 years.

Written entirely in his voice, he relates directly to us as if we were his companions on the journey, sharing flashbacks about his family and in particular, about his sister, Bethany, who suffered some kind of mental disorder, triggering various traumatic episodes the family underwent because of her bizarre behaviour.

What I like about the writing is though Smithson narrates in a matter-of-fact way, it underpins underlying emotions he is experiencing which are found, for example, in his phone conversations with Norma, his neighbour and childhood friend who though confined in a wheelchair, reveals a strength which is admirable. The silences in between their conversations tugs at your heart and the moments in which they catch up with each other during his bicycle journey, over the lost years since she had her accident, is truly touching.

Smithson finds himself in all kinds of ironic and comic situations – taken for a homeless street person, a pervert, a would-be robber, he is treated with hostility, threats and is manhandled by cops and shot at. Yet on the other hand, he meets with kindness and connects with people along the journey, affirming the idea that goodness can also be found in the midst of gloom.

Yet for all the dark memories and incidents in the book, there are also some beautiful ones. For those who had watched Forrest Gump, you might recall the scene where he described to Jenny, who was by then his wife and suffering from a terminal illness, the many breathtaking landscapes he had seen when he was on his 3 year run. Smithson encounters some of these magic scenic moments peppering his travel and recounting happy memories of his sister during her periods of lucidity also makes the journey bearable for both him and us.

All in all, this book reminds us to take time off to reflect and reconnect with our lives and with those who really matter to us, for Smithson emerges more whole as a person and certain of where he is headed and what he wants in his life and my heart was warmed by the end of the book.

Books Warehouse Sale

2006-09-02T13:44:00.000+08:00

The Times Warehouse sale is back!

Date: 7 - 10 Sep (Thu - Sun)
Time: 10 am - 9 pm
Venue: Singapore Expo Hall 4A

The Members' preview is on 6 Sep (Wed), 3 - 9 pm.

Around the Bloc

2006-08-07T23:24:00.000+08:00

Around the Bloc - My Life in Moscow, Beijing and Havana by Stephanie Elizondo Griest

Reviewed by Claudine

“Why do you always go to depressing places?...Why can’t you go to London or Rome?” This was a lament from Stephanie’s mother and one of my reasons for picking up the book. I have seen numerous travel books on a great many interesting places - mostly happy and picturesque destinations. Beijing has been explored quite a bit but Moscow and Havana? Life in a Communist country? I’m in !

Starting out her journey as a foreign language student in Moscow, a foreign correspondent in Beijing, Stephanie does not attempt to conceal the controlled lives her friends lead in the three countries . One in Havana would never be able to save enough for a plane ticket in a life time, another in Moscow would not be allowed to work or even live in the city without a bumazhki (a permit) and in Beijing, workers live in state-dormitories with as many as eight roommates at a time, where renting a room to live in after marriage is often a monumental task. As the people open up their lives to her, one cannot but feel deeply for the people in these countries.

But there are lighthearted moments – like how she manages to obtain a train ticket after being bumped from station to station in Moscow (be thick-skinned and really persistent!), or how she kisses her vegetarian inclinations goodbye at her first welcome luncheon in Beijing and naively tells her colleagues, to much giggling around the dining table, that she likes to ‘chi doufu’ (eat tofu) which also happens to be a sexual innuendo for taking advantage of someone. Or how she manages to sneak in and out of Cuba, which is an offence for an American.

Most importantly, I think it’s the people she meets and their stark honesty and warmth at times that brings the book and the travels home to her heart. As she gets to know them intimately, she is provoked to think more deeply about her place and identity, not only in the world but at home and her Mexican roots. At one point, after one year in Bejiing, when she revisits the Forbidden City on her last night there with her Chinese colleague and slides down against its bolted doors and weeps, it was also a heart wrenching moment for me. For her adventures and journeys became mine as well.

This is a no-holds-barred book about traveling and experiencing life in the Communist bloc. A real gem.

NLB Book Sale is Here!

2006-07-14T23:19:00.000+08:00

The book sale some of you have been waiting for is finally here!

Details

Date : 12 – 13 August 2006 (Sat & Sun)

Time : 9.30am – 8pm

Venue : Singapore Expo Hall 4A Free Admission

For more information - http://events.nlb.gov.sg/booksale/sale.htm

Small Island

2006-06-29T19:29:00.000+08:00

Small Island by Andrea Levy

Reviewed by Claudine

This book brings the racial discrimination of England in 1948 up, close and personal through the accounts of Gilbert Joseph and Hortense, who later marries Gilbert and moves from Jamaica to join him in London, to find it vastly different from what she had expected. The part where she attempts to get a job as a teacher but is met with callous ridicule makes you bristle with indignation at the shabby reception she receives, based on nothing but her skin colour. Many move to London hoping to have a shot at leading a better life, only to meet with obstacles one after another, in all areas of life. Gilbert could not even find lodging upon arriving in London as no one would willingly rent out rooms to black people at that time.

But it’s not a book that acts as a mouthpience to lash out at white people and Levy provides balance through the account of Queenie Bligh, who takes in Jamaican lodgers, to the annoyance of her neighbours who think that ‘darkies bring down a neighbourhood’. Through Queenie, we observe the disapproval which white people face in helping the Jamaicans who move to England after their tour of duty in World War 2. Finally through Bernard, Queenie’s husband, who serves in India for a few years, we see an inner transformation, if somewhat faint, from disdain of black people to a point where he is willing to at least comtemplate raising a half-caste baby. The story concludes by bringing all to a realistic but painful end with afterthoughts.

It’s definitely a book worth your time as it captures so well the spirit of survival among the black people in a then very white-dominated London and of kindness and generosity and personal struggles of individuals who dare to think and act differently despite societal pressures, in a period of upheaval and transition.

Never Let Me Go

2006-06-25T22:30:00.000+08:00

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Reviewed by Claudine

The story begins innocently enough with Kathy H. who identifies herself as a ‘carer’, narrating stories from her childhood in a boarding school at Hailsham. As she narrates her time spent in this school, you get a feeling that something is terribly wrong with the school, its system and guardians. You wonder why the teachers are called guardians, why the students are reminded of how special they are and what kind of donations these students are to make later in life. No mention is made of parents and you get a feel that these students are herded involuntarily towards something sinister. As you read on, Ishiguro subtly and suspensefully leads you into the horror of the story as you discover who they are and what they are ultimately used for.

At the heart of the story is the question of what makes one human? Is it a series of quantifiable human experiences? To be creative and artistically expressive? To love and be loved? To cherish relationships and time spent with loved ones? The journey that Kathy and her friends take to seek the answers to these questions in the race against time is heartbreaking and you cannot help but hope desperately for them, towards the end, that they could attain their deepest desires - the freedom to live as they wish and to delay the fate set for them, if only for a period of borrowed time.

Claudine's Harvest from the Books Warehouse Sale

2006-04-16T00:02:00.000+08:00

1) Out - Natsuo Kirino
2) Now is the Time to Open Your Heart - Alice Walker
3) Salem Falls - Jodi Picoult
(The cashier who served me gasped and exclaimed, "You managed to get a copy of her book! Where did you get it?' )
4) The Lost Heart of Asia - Colin Thubron
5) Labryinth - Kate Mosse
6) Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts
7) Catch -22 - Joseph Heller
8) The Little Friend - Donna Tartt
9) We Need to Talk about Kevin - Lionel Shriver
10) Her Story (SWCO's 25th Anniversary/Celebrating Womanhood) - Tisa Ng (Editor)
11) The Everything Astronomy Book

*satisfied*

满栽而归

2006-04-15T00:35:00.000+08:00

Adelynn's Bargains from the Books Warehouse Sale

For $45, I got:

1. Sand in my Bra and Other Misadventures - various female writers (Travel)
2. One Year Off - David Elliot Cohen (Travel)
3. Provence - various writers (Travel)
4. Insider's Tokyo - Angela Jeffs (Travel)
5. The World from Italy - George Negus
6. Bad Manors - Lisa Armstrong (Chick lit)
7. Bachelor Boys - Kate Saunders (Chick lit)
8. My Canape Hell - Imogen Edwards-Jones (Chick lit)
9. Miss Lonely Hearts - Sheryn George (Chick lit)
10. Peter and Mary have a Row - Damien Owens (Dick lit?)

Quietus

2006-04-11T21:56:00.000+08:00

Quietus by Vivian Schilling
Reviewed by Claudine

Picked this off the 'Recommendations’ display shelves at the Central Library some time ago. I was attracted by its dark brooding greenish cover with a sole raven flying across the night sky.

A supernatural thriller, it starts with a plane crash where the main character Kylie O’Rourke finds herself staring into the distinctively human eyes of a raven which lands on the wing of the plane just minutes before it crashes.

What follows after the plane crash as Kylie regains consciousness in the hospital and what she gradually recollects is really creepy. She recalls being in a lodge atop the mountain with a few fellow passengers before they are pulled back into their bodies upon their rescue. She meets a man who initially intrigues her but who also starts stalking her, only to discover among police files that he had been charged with murder and had been executed many years back. A series of bizarre incidents take place and the reader is sucked helplessly into a spiral of events that seem destined.

Working on the ideas of Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) and that Death never lets go of those who cheat him once, this chilling book lingers on the possibility that once you do, he will find you in the end, somehow, anywhere, anytime and most frighteningly, soon.

Will he succeed in claiming Kylie?

The Historian

2006-04-11T21:50:00.000+08:00

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Reviewed by Claudine

Having read Bram Stoker’s Dracula some 10 years back, I eagerly picked up her book in anticipation of the same chills and thrills in the former and it certainly wasn’t a let down.

I would probably describe this book as a thriller-horror-romance-travel story in rich historical and geographical settings. The story begins with a young woman’s discovery of an old book with a ‘great woodcut of a dragon with spread wings and a long looped tail, a beast unfurled, claws outstretched’. On the banner above the dragon ran a single word in Gothic lettering – DRAKULYA. Her father, having been asked about it, then goes on to reveal the origin of this cursed book and the story picks up from there.

You have got the thrills in the form of a breathtaking race against time to locate the resting place of the elusive Dracula. You face the horror of the characters who literally battle with the undead or become the victims of the undead, who interestingly are usually librarians or who are often conjured up in libraries or who unfortunately work in the libraries, especially in the archives section. The romance comes in the love which blossoms between the young woman’s parents in their youth, brought together by their quest for Dracula. Many parts of the story are centred in various countries and Kostova invokes the physical and cultural atmosphere of each location beautifully so you get a sense of not only traveling across geographical borders but also historically across time as her father narrates the past events which led to the current circumstances and goes in search once again for Dracula to stamp out his legacy of evil permanently.

If you are the type who enjoys Dan Brown’s or Sandra Brown’s kind of Hollywood-fast-paced action writing aka light appetizer fare, you might be overwhelmed by the detailed writing and chunky paragraphs, not unlike a meaty main course. You will need time to chew on the details, piece the clues together before you get on to the final leg of the chase but it is worth the effort, time and inevitably, some brain work.

Definitely a good read.

Times Book Warehouse Sale

2006-04-02T21:51:00.000+08:00

Or otherwise known as the 'the BOOKS WAREHOUSE SALE'

When ? 13th April to 16th April (Thursday to Sunday)

What time ? 10am to 9pm

Where ? Singapore Expo Hall 6B

Claudine

Talk by Sheila O'Flanagan

2006-03-29T11:22:00.000+08:00

(Taken from Life!Events)

When: Today, 29 Mar
Time: 8 pm
How much: Free
Where: Borders, Wheelock Place, Orchard Road
What: Best-selling Irish author Sheila O'Flanagan will tell you about her new book, Connections, which is about love and relationships. You can also find out more about her writing experience at this event, which includes an autograph session.

Merde Actually

2006-03-28T21:12:00.000+08:00

Merde Actually
by Stephen Clarke
reviewed by Adelynn

This is not the best book to read in public if you're the type who shy away from attention. Your sniggers/snorts/attempts to control your fits will draw curious eyes onto you, then to the title. I embarrassed myself on the bus home this evening when I couldn't stop grinning inanely to myself and nearly went into a silent laughing fit complete with shaking shoulders.

The follow-up to A Year in the Merde, Englishman Paul West continues to run into some (comic) cultural misunderstandings and is facing various troubles leading up to the opening of his English tea room.

This novel is the literary version of a slapstick comedy, high in visual imagery and full of naughty insinuations. It's Mr Bean or Stephen Chow on paper. Some examples which got me biting my lips to prevent the unladylike snorts from emerging:

After having strawberries in the forms of tarts, cakes, mousse, in red wine or just plain, at various houses in the afternoon...

"I struggled gamely through the meal until it came to the strawberries, when I really could not force another one of the shiny, red bastards down my throat."

Meeting his prospective new flatmates...

"'Come into ear.' Fortunately, I was used to French accents and knew that Marie was inviting me into the living room rather than suggesting aural sex."

"'But you like free ends?'
I didn't know how to answer Marie's question. She seemed to be back in her 'come into my ear' territory.
'Free ends?'
'Yes, you know. Hoss, shorn lair.'
A horse with a shorn what? This was getting weirder by the minute."

The hot summer in the countryside...

"I drank a sip of congratulations, and felt it instantly shoot out of my pores as sweat."

Know It All

2006-03-15T23:53:00.000+08:00

Know It All
by Sarah Mlynowski
reviewed by Adelynn

This amusing exposition is nestled in a collection of short stories that make up "Ladies Night"; authors include names like Meg Cabot, Faith Bleasdale (whom I found out is based in Singapore!), Anna Maxted, Belinda Jones (author of my favourite "I Love Capri"), Chris Manby and Isabel Wolff, among many others. And looking at the blurb at the back of the book, I see a name that stands out like the thorn among the roses of female authors: Mike Gayle.

Anyway.

This particular story is about intervention. Human sadly, not divine. The protagonist's roommate starts dreaming of her ex-boyfriend meeting a female stranger. The attempts to keep the ex and the stranger from having that first meeting are purposeful and hilarious. The theme running through this somehow brought to my mind that of the Final Destination trilogy: You can't escape Fate!

Read this story to find out if they succumb to fate, and while you're at it, read the rest of the stories in the book as well!

*Update*

Mike Gayle is actually a lady. Her real name is Michaela. Oops.

Book Sales & Book Fairs in March

2006-03-11T11:44:00.000+08:00

For book lovers, there are a few book sales and fairs happening this week :

1) MPH 20% Storewide Sale from 10 - 12 March
(not applicable to magazines, concessionaire, nett-priced and promotional items)

2) TIMES the Bookshop 20% Storewide Sale for members (Times Privilege card) from 11 - 12 March
For non-members : Cut out their discount coupons from Saturday's (11 March) copy of The Straits Times - Life Section page 25

3) Kinokuniya 20% Storewide Sale for members (Kinokuniya Privilege Card Members) from 11- 14 March
(not applicable to stationery, fossils, stones & minerals, government publications, 8-Days, I-Weekly, You-Weekly, newspapers, Books Kinokuniya gift vouchers, nett-price items and all other promotions and discounts)

4) Book Fair @ Bras Basah Complex from 10 - 19 March
English and Chinese books (new & used) at great bargains.
Opening hours : 10am to 9pm

5) BookFest@Singapore for Chinese book lovers
The biggest Chinese Bookfest in Southeast Asia from 10 - 19 March
Hall 4 - 5A at the Expo.
Opening hours - 10am to 10pm
For more information, please go to http://www.bookfestsingapore.com

Happy Browsing!

Claudine

Author Interviews - Elizabeth Kostova

2006-03-10T16:59:00.000+08:00

Book Alert by Claudine.

Check out this interview with Elizabeth Kostova who wrote "The Historian" which I would describe as a highly interesting modern or alternative version of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Before you bare your fangs at me, it's not a trashy gory horror novel. It got me hooked for days. Just finished her book last night and hope to be able to write something about it later.

http://www.powells.com/authors/kostova.html

The Lady and the Unicorn

2006-02-20T21:32:00.000+08:00

The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier
Reviewed by Claudine

If you liked the movie “Dangerous Liaisons’, you might like this book. Set in medieval France in 1490, the book is about the weaving of a series of 4 tapestries titled “The Lady and the Unicorn’ which captures the story of the seduction of the unicorn by the lady. Romance and seduction surrounds the book.

Nicolas Des Innocents (though he is hardly innocent, if at all) is commissioned by Jean Le Viste to do the paintings for the tapestries for his house. The tapestries are then woven, in back breaking fashion, over a period of 2 years by the De La Chapelle family in Brussels.

Within the span of 2 years, Nicolas is intertwined in the lives of both families, falling for Claude De Viste, spurring her mother to take a series of measures to prevent their budding but forbidden amour. He is also connected with Alienor, daughter of De La Chapelle house, which leads to bittersweet consequences.

I was recommended this book by a friend who told me that she was sucked into its medieval world and indeed I was too. Read it for the feel of the period which Chevalier has beautifully described in the story. The story is told in first person accounts, which is a great technique as each character’s description of the turn of events overlaps and lends a rich texture in the development of the plot. You really feel as if you are part of their world as they tell you directly about their emotions and take of their circumstances.
Readers also get a glimpse of the intricacies and detailed processes involved in the weaving of tapestries and consequently, learn to appreciate how much more precious and valuable a tapestry actually is.

Memoirs of a Geisha

2006-02-14T20:56:00.000+08:00

Memoirs of a Geisha
by Arthur Golden
reviewed by Adelynn

I was supposed to read the book before I caught the movie, but it was not to be. The best-laid plans of mice and men... Sorry, just had to slip that in.

Anyway I'm only on Chapter 5 of the book and it's been captivating so far. It's written in a slightly formal tone, in the vein of "Remains of the Day" by Ishiguro. There are many descriptions on old Kyoto, patterns of kimonos and different aspects of the Japanese culture that I'm lapping up eagerly, being the Japanophile that I am.

I'm not sure watching the movie first would affect my impression of the book, but it certainly did add colour and scenery to my imagination as I proceed with each page. Whenever a character comments on Chiyo's eyes, I would visualise the little girl in the movie, and it's easy to imagine how bitchy Hatsumomo is by bringing to mind Gong Li flouncing around in her robes.

I'll leave the options to you but do scan through the first few pages of the book. You may find it difficult to put down.

The Diary of Ma Yan

2006-01-01T23:03:00.000+08:00

The Diary of Ma Yan
The Life of a Chinese Schoolgirl – transformed
Reviewed by Claudine

Edited by Pierre Haski, the man who was entrusted with the diaries by the girl’s mother just as he was about to leave the village, the book consists mainly of the entries in her diary from 2 September 2000 to 13 December 2001 (with a portion between 29 December 2000 to 2 July gone because her father had torn pages from it to roll his cigarettes).

Her entries reveal the remote and harsh terrain in which the villagers from Zhangjiashu, in the south of Ningxia (northwest of Beijing), lacking in basic amenities such as water, live. The theme which runs through her diary is Ma Yan, aged 13, is her strong determination and desire to remain in school so that she can lift her family from the vicious cycle of poverty. Sometimes going without food (and a meal for them is just plain rice – meat is a scarcity), children like Ma Yan have to endure the hunger when money is hard to come by. For us, who come from an affluent society, the hardships and abject poverty which the villagers face is astounding and beyond imagination.

But good has come out of it – Ma Yan’s diaries were published and much publicity about the educational needs of the children in her village has been done. Pierre Haski concludes the book with a series of articles in the Appendices which updates and enlightens the readers on various issues such as “The Plight of Education” which discusses the problems faced in educating the children of peasants and “How Things Have Changed” which focuses on the results of the publicity on both Ma Yan and her peers – more children receiving grants to remain in school.

While her writing is not as entertaining as Anne Frank’s diary and that should not be the point, it reminds us to cherish what we have and to work hard towards our goals, no matter how adverse the circumstances are.

TIMES Warehouse Sale

2005-12-25T00:42:00.000+08:00

MPH Book Sale

2005-11-03T20:58:00.000+08:00

MPH Book Sale

Public – Free Admission
Date: 5 Nov - 6 Nov
Time: 9 am till 9 pm
Location: Expo Hall 6A
MPH Distributors is the largest importer and distributor of English Language Books in Singapore. More than 30,000 books of various subjects selling at between 30% to 80% discounts.

Just Like Heaven

2005-11-03T18:40:00.000+08:00

Just Like Heaven
by Marc Levy
reviewed by Adelynn

This light-hearted story is easily digested, despite the number of medical terms sprinkled throughout. It cannot be classified as chick lit, as the author does not bring the reader deep into the life of the female protagonist, Lauren. Instead the style is similar to Nicholas Spark's, in his novel-to-screen story, A Walk to Remember.

Lauren is a ghost - or a soul, or a spirit, whatever floats your boat - whose body is lying in a deep coma in a hospital after a car malfunction accident. She is discovered singing in her old apartment's closet one night when the new tenant Arthur moves in. Needless to say, she is overjoyed that he could hear, see and even feel her.

This leads to comic moments when all other people can see is Arthur talking to no one, or his arm hanging in the air when it is actually around her shoulders. However when doctors get ready to euthanize the physical Lauren, Arthur races against time to try to find a way to get her soul back into her body to emerge from the coma.

In the time that they spend together researching, and pulling off a kidnapping stunt, they fall in love, but Arthur must face a loss towards the end of the book. No more spoilers, but you may go catch the movie version of this soon. Sneak previews tomorrow.

The Killing Joke

2005-10-25T20:01:00.000+08:00

The Killing Joke
By Anthony Horowitz
Reviewed by Adelynn

I finished this book in 24 hours. The writing style isn't exactly gripping; instead it kind of ambles along congenially, like your friendly neighbourhood stray wandering down the street. What kept me turning the pages was the story. I wondered how the author was going to insert another joke in the prose without digressing from the storyline.

Some of the public's favourite jokes make guest appearances here ("Waiter, there's a fly in my soup!" or "why did the chicken cross the road?")

In a story about jokes, the author manages not to make the book seem like a bad joke itself. An enjoyable read for a cool evening in bed.

For lovers of Chick Lit

2005-08-19T12:45:00.000+08:00

Check out this link.

Miriam's Song - A Memoir

2005-08-12T12:35:00.000+08:00

Miriam Mathabane as told to Mark Mathabane.

A letter to Miriam

Dear Miriam

Thank you for sharing your life with me. From your childhood to the point you were poised to soar to the States - this book is your song for freedom.

Despite living in squalid poverty and under apartheid in South Africa, you persevered and kept toiling on, endured daily beatings in school which was part of the school policy, in pursuit of education.

Nevermind that you were repeatedly disrupted from your studies by the race riots, surmountable circumstances, obstacles a surprise pregnancy and role as a young but responsible mother.

Nevermind that you were taught under the national Bantu education which was designed to keep the black people in their place so that 'natives will be taught from childhood to realize that equality with Europeans is not for them'.

Nevermind that your supposed husband locked you at home on the day of your final exams and you had to repeat grade for the next year.

You kept the goal of studying in the States ever before you and I applauded and whooped with joy when you did.

I thank God for the people around you who have been instrumental in your flight to freedom - your mother who despite being illiterate knew that education is the path out of the vicious circle of poverty, your principal Mrs Jones who strongly believed that without education, there would be no leaders and to your brother Mark, who had the foresight, being the first to travel to the States to study and raise the awareness of apartheid there, blazing the way for you and your siblings to the US for a better life.

I saw through your eyes the evils of apartheid, the crushing of an entire race based solely on their colour. I am heartened that things are vastly different now in South Africa and know now that without education, a heightening and stimulation of the intellectual consciousness of the oppressed race, freedom can never truly come.

Thank you Miriam. I salute your courage.

Yours truly,
Claudine

2005-08-05T09:36:00.000+08:00

Quote for the Month of July

2005-07-19T23:04:00.000+08:00

"[The best service of books is] that they set us free from themselves. We read a line, a word that lifts us; we rise into a succession of thoughts that is better than the book."

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Journals, edited by Edward Waldo Emerson and Waldo Emerson Forbes (1914)

Claudine's Quote of the Month

Hello, Darkness and One Step Behind

2005-07-03T00:29:00.000+08:00

Reviewed by Claudine

Read two crime thrillers back to back : Sandra Brown’s ‘Hello, Darkness” and Henning Mankell’s ‘One Step Behind’.

The story of “Hello, Darkness’ revolves around a radio deejay, Paris, who receives a call from an unknown listener who blames her for advising his girlfriend to leave him and threatens to kill the girl, and go after her after that. It is a suspenseful read typical of bestsellers aka Hollywood style with heart pumping action, romance and sex, which comes in the form of Dean Malloy, one of the crime investigators - Paris had left her previous town in order to avoid him. Sandra’s style is to introduce characters within the story, some of whom are suspect and invites the readers to guess which might be the stalker cum murderer. It would make for a good afternoon read by the pool or at the beach.

One of the gems I discovered off the shelves of the library, Henning Mankell’s ‘One Step Behind’ is a few notches up from Sandra Brown’s writing. The story investigates the murder of 3 young people, in 18th century garb, in a secluded Swedish meadow, followed by a brutal killing of a police officer who might be linked to the case. What comes after that is a desperate hunt for the murderer by Kurt Wallander, the police investigator who despite his failing health, with steely determination, follows up on clues and leads in relentless pursuit of the murderer before he strikes again. As I follow Wallander on the trail of the murderer, I feel like a sleuth myself piecing the clues together to form the larger picture in which the murders might have been committed and find myself unable to stop thinking about the case. The book is exhilarating and the writing almost lyrical in some parts. I couldn’t put it down, engrossed by the mysterious circumstances of the murders and elusive identity of the murderer. Unlike Sandra Brown, Mankell does not lay down all the suspects like cards on the table. Instead he takes us on a fast paced chase in a race against time, leaving no stone unturned, down winding trails which spring up surprises you'd never expect.

“Unputdownable” – if there is ever such a word !

My verdict : Henning Mankell’s “One Step Behind’ is excellent and highly recommended for all crime fiction aficionados. He has also written other titles so check them out !

Rouge

2005-06-20T21:35:00.000+08:00

Rouge(1) (Japanese)
by Yu Miri

Reviewed by zlel

At first glance, Rouge looks like a love story,
but it's really more like a story of the human
heart taking the form of a love story. It tells of
how the heart can change, and how people can
change across the generations. Had you read the
first chapter, you would probably have predicted
what the ending would have been, but just as life
is full of intrigue, how one person ten years ago
can be a totally different person today, it is the
journey that counted in this book.

Okay number one, this is not a trashy romance
novel. Yu Miri is a zainichi (Japanese
born Korean) writer who probably has some
screwed up family history to tell, but some of her
award winning(2) works like Full House and Family
Cinema, revolve around the family theme. Living up
to her reputation as a family writer, she
intertwines Lisa's (the protagonist) love, work
and family life to give us a glimpse of how a girl
so full of her own ideals could have given in to
the world. Yes, this book, at least to me, is
about the journey in Lisa's inner-world.

This book opens with Lisa. A photograph shoot for
a cosmetic company's advertising campaign, a model
who didn't show up. A make-up artist who decided
to put make-up on Lisa and make her the model
in-lieu. A successful shoot, and an amazingly
professional performance on Lisa's part - add to
that, a face totally transformed when Lisa had
make-up on. Everything was staged for a model in
the making, except one thing - Lisa hated makeup.

Lisa, without all the make-up, was but little
more than a plain looking girl and a fresh
graduate from a design school. She had entered
Shiseido an aspiring designer, but the
company, after her successful photo-shoot, wanted
to make her a model. But this was all wrong for
her - what she had wanted was just an
ordinary life, being able to live just as
she wanted - not a celebrity that the whole world
knew. And there was the problem with her family -
all the public attention from being a model would
invite too many unneccessary gossip from her
folks. She hated her mum, she hated her dad. She
grew up with her grandmother, who alone could
perfectly respect her personal space.

Ah yes, her grandmother. I thought that Miri was
quite skilful describing Lisa's relationship with
her grandmother. Lisa had picked up a cat because
it looked too pitiful, but when she had brought it
home, her grandmonther insisted that it was Lisa's
cat and had her name it herself. And it was only when
Lisa decided to move out to live on her own, did
her grandmother say that one phrase that seemed to
sum it all up - "and when you go, take your cat
with you".

Forward to the last chapters of the book. I thought
this was the most amazing thing, that it is within
the space of these few chapters, that we see
Lisa's transformation - from one who had personal
issues with cosmetics into a professional model.
By this point, Lisa had met Kurogawa, a renowned
art director - who fell in love with her. She
began living with Kurogawa and his boyfriend, and
that started the chain of events that led to her
transformation. But even as one reads these
chapters, one inevitably appreciates the backdrop
that was Lisa's emotional predisposition, built up
by her family and her relationship with others
through all the events that took up the rest of
the volume - that made it look all so natural.

I would have wanted to close my review with the
book's conclusion, because I think it really
depicted how Lisa had totally accepted her role as
a professional model - but that would have been
too much of a spolier. So maybe instead, I'll
recommend that you also read the appended
explanatory note by Satoru, as it touched
on how within her book, Miri had depicted how
women have changed in their thinking - making us
call to mind how Lisa and her boss each had a
different take on what cosmetics meant to them.

All in all, this has been a surprising read. I was
looking for books that dealt with the subject of
love - I got plenty of it, and much more. Ah yes,
did I forget to mention, that although this book
was a book about a journey that took the form of a
love story, it actually did had much to say about
love? Oops, sorry for that.

(1) Rogue means red, or lipstick in
French.
(2) Several of Yu Miri's works have either won
or been nominated for the Akutagawa award, one of
Japan's more prestigious awards for outstading
authors.

Quote for the Month of June

2005-06-14T00:23:00.000+08:00

"A well-composed book is a magic carpet on which we are wafted to a world that we cannot enter in any other way."

Caroline Gordon

Claudine's Quote of the Month

Riding the Bus with My Sister

2005-06-09T22:24:00.000+08:00

Riding the Bus with my Sister by Rachel Simon

Reviewed by Claudine

Very few books moved me as much as this one did.

This real life story revolves around Rachel Simon and the bus rides which she took for a year with her intellectually disabled sister, Beth. At first glance at the book blurb, you’d wonder what you can get out of bus rides since our experiences of bus rides here in Singapore are mundane and we don’t even bother to look at the driver most of the time! But I was amazed by how the lives of the drivers criss crossed with those of Rachel and Beth and influenced their perspectives on life. You see, the drivers in this story aren’t just drivers. They are also drivers with a life story and philosophy to share with riders on the bus during the long journeys, touching the lives of the sisters and mine as well as I read about their personal struggles.

The story also traces Rachel’s relationship with Beth, from distant discomfort and disdain to a somewhat touching if not, precarious, harmony between them towards the end of the book. What I like is Rachel’s honesty about her feelings which she doesn’t attempt to mask or package to portray herself as noble or carry the ‘Applaud me for the effort I spend on my sister” kind of tone. She admits readily that some of the feelings towards her sister aren’t positive in the least and she is not proud of them. In other words, she is not some superwoman - only human, just like the rest of us.

She includes flashbacks into her family’s past, recalling key incidents in their lives which serve to highlight the turmoil and emotions when you have a disabled member in the family. You empathise with the struggles and sacrifices Rachel makes to try to understand her sister and what makes her spirited sister tick. Yet at the same time, you learn from Beth - what it means to be regarded as different in a world where disabilities are still taboo and how she fights and responds with gusto against such discrimination and develops her own particular brand of outlook on life. You can’t help but develop a deep seated admiration and affection for her despite her eccentricities. Beth transforms not only the lives of the drivers, the lonely and confused life of her writer sister but anyone who reads this book as well. I certainly was.

This is one book I see myself reading over and over again.

You can learn more about this book from http://www.rachelsimon.com/
It is definitely worth the buy! If you are on a budget, borrow it from the Orchard library.

A Paragraph Which Moved Me

2005-06-08T21:16:00.000+08:00

From Jane Green's Mr Maybe:

And later that night, while I'm lying in bed crying, because I never realised how much it would hurt to cause that much pain to someone who loves you, it suddenly strikes me that the reason Ed didn't say anything, at all, all evening, was because he was holding back the tears.

- after the protagonist Libby spends a silent evening with her soon-to-be-ex-fiance Ed

World Book Fair 2005

2005-06-01T23:17:00.000+08:00

World Book Fair 2005

Suntec Singapore Hall 4
Friday 2 pm to 10 pm, Saturday to June 5 11 am to 10 pm

The World Book Fair is jointly organised by the Chinese newspapers division of Singapore Press Holdings and Times business information. It has the support of the Singapore Ministry of Education, National Library Board, The Straits Times, Lianhe Zaobao, Lianhe Wanbao, Shin Min Daily News, Friday Weekly and Suntec Singapore.

It will feature over 200 exhibitors from 12 countries - showcasing 300 000 titles.

Every $20 spent at the fair will entitle visitors to a lucky draw coupon. Prizes include tour packages to Gold Coast, Australia, Hong Kong and Bangkok, Thailand.

Quote for Month of May - "The Magic of the Book"

2005-05-31T11:24:00.000+08:00

"Among the many worlds which man did not receive as a gift of nature, but which he created out of his own mind, the world of books is the greatest...Without the word, the writing of books, there is no history, there is no concept of humanity. And if anyone wants to try to enclose in a small space in a single house or single room, the history of the human spirit and to make it his own, he can only do this in the form of a collection of books."

HERMAN HESSE, "The Magic of the Book," My Belief : Essays on Life and Art (1974)

Claudine's Quote of the Month

Upcoming MPH Book Sale

2005-05-17T11:09:00.000+08:00

Event: MPH Book Sale (Public - Free Admission)
Where: Expo Hall 6B
When: 28-May-05 to 29-May-05 (Sat & Sun)
Start Time: 09:00
End Time : 21:00
Show Profile: MPH DISTRIBUTORS is the largest Importer and Distributor of English Language Books in Singapore. More than 300,000 books of various subjects selling at between 30 to 80% discounts.

Contact: MPH Distributors (S) Pte Ltd
Enquiry:
Tel: 65- 64506071 (Miss Mas Haryani)
Fax: 65- 64570314
Email: masharyani@mph.com.sg

Times the Bookshop Promo!

2005-05-16T20:32:00.000+08:00

Alvan's (Rather Breathless Summary on His) Acquisitions

2005-05-05T20:20:00.000+08:00

The shelves are full...

Book covers! Don't you just love book covers?

I love book covers!

Literary essays! I love literary essays!

Sand! I love sand!

Highways! I... erm, don't feel anything towards highways.

Ladakh! I love... wait, where in the world is Ladakh?

War! But I love peace

Medicine? Well, the cover looks cool, so...

SF! I LOVE SF!!!

I love Nobel Prize winners! (Whether I can understand their stuff is moot, ok.)

Adelynn's Archives

2005-05-01T00:44:00.000+08:00

From the Times warehouse sale on Sat...

The Dirty Girls Social Club - Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez
Sweet FA - Siobhan Curham
The Crush - Sandra Brown
The Lake of Dead Languages - Carol Goodman
The Hen Party - Kath Kincaid
A Little Trouper - Owen Whittaker
Hotel Secrets from the Travel Detective - Peter Greenberg
A Trip to the Beach - Melinda Blanchard & Robert Blanchard
Waking up in Cuba - Stephen Foehr
Biche - Stephanie Theobald
Bright Young Things - Scarlett Thomas
The Diary of an American Au Pair - Marjorie Leet Ford
Paradise Fields - Katie Fforde

The Books Warehouse Sale

2005-04-21T17:14:00.000+08:00

When: 30 Apr (Sat) - 2 May (Mon)
Time: 10 am - 9 pm
Where: Singapore Expo Hall 6B
What: Times The Bookshop Pte Ltd Sale.
Mode of Payment : Cash, NETS and Visa Card
Comments: Many new titles added daily! Bestselling novels at 3 for $10, quality children's books at 4 for $10, and... more than 70% discount on almost all titles.

I Don't Mean to Be Rude But...

2005-04-13T18:21:00.000+08:00

I Don't Mean to be Rude But ...
Backstage Gossip from American Idol & the Secrets that Can Make You a Star
by Simon Cowell

Reviewed by Claudine

If you are an ardent American Idol fan, this book is for you. Known for his astute but brutal remarks on the show, Simon takes you behind the scenes and gives you his honest comments on almost everybody – the contestants, Ryan Seacrest, the other judges and most interestingly, on other famous artistes - he calls Michael Jackson a ‘spoilt brat’ and declares that Madonna’s time is over.

The book is unabashedly all about Simon and he makes no apologies about this book being egotistical. It offers you a glimpse of his childhood, his determined climb up the ranks of the music industry from a lowly mailroom boy to becoming a top producer and why he should have THE final word on the contestants who part hate, part fear him and rightly so. You can't help but give credit to his foresight and judgment since he does manage artists and produce records which top the charts and sell by the million.

For aspiring stars, he has also included a candid section “So You Wanna Be a Pop Star” and what to do when you are almost “Reaching the Finish Line”, if you ever get past the audition, that is.

Even if you are not an American Idol fan, you might like to flip through the book for his take and gossip on various artistes and other aspects of the music industry. It’s very easy reading – Adelynn finished it in one day! So even if you are not a mean reading machine like her, you might be able to breeze through the book in just a few days.

I don’t mean to be rude (Simon) but if you readers, like me, don’t deem his book worthy of purchase for your home collection, you might want to borrow it from the library, which was what I did. It is worth making a trip down to the library, at the very least.

Spending a day with Simon won't be a letdown.

Wrong About Japan

2005-03-26T22:38:00.000+08:00

Wrong About Japan
by Peter Carey
reviewed by Adelynn

Manga and anime inspired the pages of this book, as how it inspired the whole pilgrimage to the "real Japan". Though this book is thin compared to some of the chunks of travel novels I've read, it attempts to pack an entire
culture into its pages, and succeeds quite well too. In fact, it sometimes left me reeling from the sheer load of information.

The author, his son Charley, and their guide Takashi (a teen who indulges in what Harajuku is well-known for: cosplay), explore the side of Japan that is immersed in its unique brand of comics.

By hard work or sheer luck, they manage to meet quite a number of personalities, the most famous of whom is the elusive Hayao Miyazaki, who produced the animation movies My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away and the most recent, Howl's Moving Castle (plug: which is still screening at Orchard Cineleisure at several timings).

The author's tender love for his shy son on the brink of teenagehood seeps through his narration, especially in the opening chapters when Charley first discovers manga. As if to remind the reader that the tale is not simply about the exploration of a foreign culture, in small print on the front of the bright pink cover are the words: A father's journey with his son.

Larking About in Ireland

2005-03-26T21:33:00.000+08:00

Larkin About in Ireland
by John Larkin
reviewed by Adelynn

"Home is where the harp is..."

The Ireland-born, Australia-residing author sets off in search of his spiritual home but finds that it has changed greatly since his father's time in the 50s.

I opened the book to its first page a few months ago but did not manage to read past the first few pages. However, when I took it up again last week, I fell under its spell quickly and wondered why I could even stop the previous time.

What sets John Larkin's writing apart from Bill Bryson or Peter Moore is that he frequently inserts hilarious imaginary conversations (between the people he encounters on the road) in the middle of his prose. The first few times I came across them, I was taken aback. I was even sure that there were "???" above my head.

I gradually got used to this quirkingly quirky quirkish quirk of his and was soon sniggering to myself on the bus, on the train, and wherever I was reading this book.

Towards the end, there was even a highly "polished" parable from the Brothers Grimm, which ending got removed by the Publisher who commented "Due to the graphic and frankly tasteless nature of the remainder of this paragraph, we have been left with very little choice than to remove it in its entirety and refer Mr Larkin to the appropriate counselling body."

Curious? Read the book to find out!

The Pianist by Wladyslaw Szpilman

2005-03-26T17:51:00.000+08:00

Reviewed by Claudine

The Roman Polanski movie led me to this book. Being the book nut that I am, I borrowed "The Pianist" from the library after watching the movie and the book is as good as the movie.

‘The Pianist’ is the memoir of Szpilman, a Polish Jew pianist who managed to survive the ‘resettlement’ of the Jewish Holocaust in Warsaw, where he lived. The book describes the plight of the Jewish people under the cold heartless systematic control of the Germans. To be able to fight to survive under such extenuating circumstances is what I admire about the author, who lived mostly by following his intuition and gut feeling. At times, he followed an innate sense of foreboding, forsaking his hiding place for another, just in time to have his previous hiding place raided, missing liquidation just in the nick of time. It makes for great suspenseful TV, except when you realise it was his life you are reading about.

After the war, he went on to become an accomplished pianist, tucking his horrific experiences away into this memoir, which his son published only after the death of his father.

Reading this book, one tries to understand how one human race can so intensely despise and loathe another. The ways in which the Jews were treated were appalling --transported around in trucks and literally stuffed into train cars like cattle to be deported to their fate or taunted or shot at will by German officers. I think animals in SPCA are more humanely put down than the Jews in that period and I'm not speaking in jest.

The language used in the book makes for easy reading, very much like listening to him talk about his wartime experiences. No melodrama, just the narration of events that happen to him and those around him one after another as if he were an observer, neutral and unmoved. But it is this numbing narration that conveys the effect of muted anguish and horror, which assaulted and paralysed the Jewish Community then. But by the end of this book, readers are inspired with the triumph of the human spirit – to hope and survive against all odds.

Both the book and the movie are highly recommended.

For movie buffs, here's the url to the movie : http://www.thepianist-themovie.com/pianistel.html

MPH Warehouse Sale

2005-01-09T13:32:00.000+08:00

National Library Board Sale

2004-12-25T16:05:00.000+08:00

National Library Board Sale

Date: 8 - 9 Jan 2005 (Sat and Sun)
Time: 10 am - 8 pm
Venue: Suntec Level 4, Halls 402 & 403
Comments: Payment by cash, NETS, cashcard only

Pansing Warehouse Sale

2004-12-16T23:46:00.000+08:00

Pansing Warehouse Sale

Time: Noon to 9pm each day.
Date: 17th Dec (Fri) to 19th Dec (Sun) - 3 days only
Venue: 3, Kaki Bukit Road 2, #01-08 Eunos Warehouse, Singapore 417835

Most children's: $1
Most teens: $2
Paperbacks: $2-3
Hardcovers: $4-5
Coffee table: $8-11
All other categories about $5.

Cash only. No NETTS facilities available

Gotai Fumanzoku

2004-12-06T13:41:00.000+08:00

Gotai Fumanzoku (Japanese - English version Nobody's Perfect)
by Hirotada Ototake
reviewed by zlel

I could not agree more with the author of this book. I have thought about these issues before, but hearing from one who is, by societal standards, severely handicapped, it both confirmed and expanded what I thought we should be doing for the physically disabled, driving home one basic point - the last thing they need is charity and cheap pity.

Gotai Fumazoku, which title is a word play on "gotai manzoku" meaning"able bodied", preduleds beautifully with how the author was born into a family of love. A mother, who didn't get to see her child for a whole month after giving birth but told that the child had to be kept away because of jaundice, had finally to be told that her child was born without limbs. An empty bed was put on stand-by, knowing that this was probably too great a shock for her. But at that moment she saw her child, there was no wild shouting nor crying. All she said was simply "he's beautiful".

Such was the superwoman he felt his mother was. This was a family that refused to believe that their son could not live up to the challenges of an ordinary education - and made sure their son received one. But it was not so much of this determination or faith that made this book stand out. It was what he thought of himself, and how his peers took to him.

One thing that left a deep impression on my mind was his comment on how his classmates in primary school helped him out in class. Every Art lesson, the students would all rush to the back of the class to collect their Art Kits. Being innocent little children, they would help Hirotada collect his kit too - but the teacher felt very strongly that Hirotada should be responsible for what he could manage himself. So everytime he went to the back of his class on the stubs that were his limbs, the whole class would wait for him. Through this whole episode, the author opened for us two "inside worlds" - first, the thoughts of his teacher, revealing the depth of the education the teacher was offering here, as opposed to our syllabus-driven drills that seem to be in place just so that exams can be taken; and second, how the author felt that his classmates were merely helping him in a manner that was such "a matter of fact" - not out of pity or gulit, but simply and naturally lending a helping hand where one was needed.

I thought these were the two deepest core themes in the book -branching into issues such as "barrier-free" societies, discussing how the responsibility of the society towards the handicapped is not to provide materially nor to give their welfare special treatment, but rather, to give them an equal chance that they may live in the same society just as everyone else does. Coming from a handicapped individual who managed to make it through normal education into university, one cannot but feel that he was one who "got everything right".

I'll leave you with just one more thought. During Hirotada's schooldays, his favourite lesson was PE. He loved Soccer, and was later in the school Basketball team. As for how this was possible...oh well, go read the book.

The Night Listener

2004-12-06T13:22:00.000+08:00

The Night Listener
by Armistead Maupin
reviewed by Bin Bin

(warning: certainly not for those who are homophobic)

Story revolves around successful, public radio-syndicated storyteller and host of "Noone at Night" Gabriel Noone. This protagonist is a highly sensitive, emotional and insecure man in his mid-fiftes, coping with the separation with his life-long partner, Jess.

In this phrase that he was going through, he encountered a boy whose experience and well-written biography sparked his interest. He managed to develop a "father-and-son" relationship with this 15-year-old boy, Pete, whom he never met, just by numerous conversations over the phone.

Alongside this main thread, we also uncover Gabriel's problem with Jess, the love of his life who suffered from AIDS, and also Gabriel's relationship with his father, a man who was always at arm's length away.

A book filled with his life's experience, rich with emotions. This book is characterized by the vast amount of dialogues used, making the reader feel like an observer right next to the scenes. Noone's character is somehow very easy to identify with, and I found myself being very understanding towards his flaws and inner turmoils. Another controversial work by Maupin, transparent in his liberal work relating to homosexual living.

Other works include Tales of the City Series, Sure of You, Significant Others and the latest, Maybe Moon.

An excerpt:

Chapter One Jewelling The Elephant

I know how it sounds when I call him my son. There's something a little precious about it, a little too wishful to be taken seriously. I've noticed the looks on people's faces, those dim, indulgent smiles that vanish in a heartbeat. It's easy enough to see how they've pegged me: an unfulfilled man on the shady side of fifty, making a last grasp at fatherhood with somebody else's child.That's not the way it is. Frankly, I've never wanted a kid. Never once believed that nature's whim had robbed me of my manly destiny. Pete and I were an accident, pure and simple, a collision of kindred spirits that had nothing to do with paternal urges, latent or otherwise. That much I can tell you for sure.

Son isn't the right word, of course.

Just the only one big enough to describe what happened.

I'm a fabulist by trade, so be forewarned: I've spent years looting my life for fiction. Like a magpie, I save the shiny stuff and discard the rest; it's of no use to me if it doesn't serve the geometry of the story. This makes me less than reliable when it comes to the facts. Ask Jess Carmody, who lived with me for ten years and observed this affliction firsthand. He even had a name for it 'The Jewelled Elephant Syndrome' after a story I once told him about an old friend from college.

My friend, whose name was Boyd, joined the Peace Corps in the late sixties. He was sent to a village in India where he fell in love with a local girl and eventually proposed to her. But Boyd's blue-blooded parents back in South Carolina were so aghast at the prospect of dusky grandchildren that they refused to attend the wedding in New Delhi.

So Boyd sent them photographs. The bride turned out to be an aristocrat of the highest caste, better bred by far than any member of Boyd's family. The couple had been wed in regal splendor, perched atop a pair of jewelled elephants. Boyd's parents, imprisoned in their middle-class snobbery, had managed to miss the social event of a lifetime.

I had told that story so often that Jess knew it by heart. So when Boyd came to town on business and met Jess for the first time, Jess was sure he had the perfect opener. "Well," he said brightly, "Gabriel tells me you got married on an elephant."Boyd just blinked at him in confusion.

I could already feel myself reddening. "You weren't?"

"No," Boyd said with an uncomfortable laugh. "We were married in a Presbyterian church."

Jess said nothing, but he gave me a heavy-lidded stare whose meaning I had long before learned to decipher: You are never to be trusted with the facts.

In my defense, the essence of the story had been true. Boyd had indeed married an Indian girl he had met in the Peace Corps, and she had proved to be quite rich. And Boyd's parents 'who were, in fact, exceptionally stuffy' had always regretted that they'd missed the wedding.

I don't know what to say about those elephants, except that I believed in them utterly. They certainly never felt like a lie. More like a kind of shorthand for a larger, less satisfying truth. Most stories have holes in them that cry out for jewelled elephants. And my instinct, alas, is to supply them.

I don't want that to happen when I talk about Pete. I will try to lay out the facts exactly as I remember them, one after the other, as unbejewelled as possible. I owe that much to my son 'to both of us, really' and to the unscripted intrigues of everyday life. But, most of all, I want you to believe this. And that will be hard enough as it is.

I wasn't myself the afternoon that Pete appeared. Or maybe more severely myself than I had ever been. Jess had left me two weeks earlier, and I was raw with the realization of it. I have never known sorrow to be such a physical thing, an actual presence that weighed on my limbs like something wet and woolen. I couldn't write 'or wouldn't, at any rate' unable to face the grueling self-scrutiny that fiction demands. I would feed the dog, walk him, check the mail, feed myself, do the dishes, lie on the sofa for hours watching television.
Everything seemed pertinent to my pain. The silliest coffee commercial could plunge me into profound Chekhovian gloom. There was no way around the self-doubt or the panic or the anger. My marriage had exploded in midair, strewing itself across the landscape, and all I could do was search the rubble for some sign of a probable cause, some telltale black box.
The things I knew for sure had become a litany I recited to friends on the telephone: Jess had taken an apartment on Buena Vista Park. He wanted space, he said, a place to be alone. He had spent a decade expecting to die, and now he planned to think about living. (He could actually do that, he realized, without having to call it denial.) He would meditate and read, and focus on himself for once. He couldn't say for sure when he'd be back, or if he'd ever be back, or if I'd even want him when it was over. I was not to take this personally, he said; it had nothing to do with me.

Then, after stuffing his saddlebags full of protease inhibitors, he pecked me solemnly on the lips and mounted the red motorcycle he had taught himself to ride six months earlier. I'd never trusted that machine. Now, as I watched it roar off down the hill, I realized why: It had always seemed made for this moment.

--From The Night Listener, by Armistead Maupin. © October 2000

Primal Fear

2004-11-25T10:43:00.000+08:00

Primal Fear
by William Diehl
reviewed by Jessica Liang

Everyone knows about the movie adaptation or might have watched it. But I feel that the book portrays all the emotions of the characters better.

It deals with the emotions of a cool-headed lawyer and his client. He believes that every client is innocent until proven guilty. However, he finds out that it is a thin line between the bad and the good. It is packed with enough twists and turns to keep a reader breathless! Tension is built up bit by bit till it explodes in the court.

I was so engrossed in every page till I reached the last page where the ending was unexpected!Little wonder that this book was raved about.

Claudine's Purchases

2004-11-16T15:34:00.000+08:00

Claudine's Purchases

1) The Good Women of China by Xinran
2) A House by the River by Sid Smith
3) Love Lives by Josie Lloyd and Emilyn Rees
4) The Reading Group by Elizabeth Noble
5) Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
6) The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
7) Dreaming Water by Gail Tsukiyama
8) Red Sorghum by Mo Yan
9) The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The Dark Room

2004-11-16T15:30:00.000+08:00

The Dark Room
by Rachel Seiffert
Reviewed by Claudine

Found it really good in the way it dealt with the Holocaust from the German perspective. Definitely not a 'tra la la' book, with some really heavy impacting scenes, but very readable, with no lengthy paragraphs and mostly written in conversational style, which certainly brings out the emotions in the characters as they struggle to deal with the War, or the past.

My favourite story is about Lore. It was really painful to read about her struggle to bring her younger brothers and sister, across the country to Hamburg to look for their Oma (grandmother) after her parents were captured by the Allies and may perhaps never see them again.

The part below was taken from the book jacket.

The Dark Room by Rachel Seiffert
(Winner of the Booker Prize 2001)

Each of us is an individual; each of us has an individual responsibility for our own actions. Each of us is also a member of the family, of families;each of us is a citizen of a state, member of a nation. Can we, must we, take responsibility for them, for their actions too ?

Perhaps in no other country in twentieth century Europe have such questions has as much resonance as they had in Germany. What has it meant to be German in the twentieth century ? What has it meant to be the child of German parents, the daughter of members of the Nazi party, the grandson of a grandfather who was in the Waffen SS, the father of a German child ?

The Dark Room tells the stories of three ordinary twentieth century Germans: Helmut, a young photographer in Berlin in the 1930s who uses his craft to express his patriotic fervour; Lore, a twelve year old girl who in 1945 guides her young siblings across Germany after her Nazi parents are seized by the Allies; and half a century later, Micha, a young teacher obsessed with what his grandfather did in the war, struggling to deal with the past of his family and his country.

Adelynn's Purchases

2004-11-14T22:31:00.000+08:00

Adelynn's Purchases

1) Sarah Webb - Some Kind of Wonderful
2) Mil Millington - A Certain Chemistry
3) Kirstie Speke - Angel
4) Eva Rice - Standing Room Only
5) Karen Nelson - Tea and Tiramisu
6) Fiona Gibson - Babyface
7) Pete McCarthy - The Road to McCarthy*
8) John Larkin - Larkin About in Ireland*
9) Peter Greenberg - The Travel Detective*

*Travel

The Da Vinci Code vs Angels and Demons

2004-11-14T22:11:00.000+08:00

The Da Vinci Code vs Angels and Demons
by Dan Brown
reviewed by Adelynn

I first read The Da Vinci Code due to the hype about it. Before I picked up the book at MPH Citylink, I had thought it was a non-fiction book, ala The Bible Code. I got hooked after the first 2 pages while browsing and received it as a birthday gift.
Having read it so long ago, I can barely recall the contents of the novel, but I remember being captivated throughout the story and raced to finish it. I found the ending a bit of a let-down. What? After all the wild-goose chases, no Holy Grail?? Oops! Gave it away did I?
The content was very well-researched though, like in Angels and Demons, the next Dan Brown book I got. It is set before The Da Vinci Code, with the same protagonist Robert Langdon. Again, a well-researched piece about the group Illuminati.
I actually prefer Angels and Demons. Robert Langdon, an academic, races against time to save 4 cardinals and the world in general. Each is doomed to die in 4 different ways: Air, Fire, Water and Earth. The lag time between Robert figuring out which church they'd be at and when he actually finds them gets shorter and shorter, and my eyes flickered furiously across the pages hoping he could save them.
If the hype and my review haven't already gotten the book snobs out there interested, they're number 1 and 2 on the top 10 fiction list currently. Good enough reason? *

*Update: Tom Hanks is set to play Robert Langdon in the movie version of The Da Vinci Code.

Book Sale

2004-11-14T22:08:00.000+08:00

One more day left to the Pansing Warehouse Sale! It's held at Expo Hall 5A, from 11 am - 9 pm. Books are 3 for $10, or $4/5 each, going up to $20 for hard-covers. Do make a trip down. It's worth the travelling time (if you live in the west like me).

A Thousand Days in Venice

2004-08-17T21:09:00.000+08:00

A Thousand Days in Venice
by Marlena De Blasi
reviewed by Adelynn

Received this as a birthday gift, which I was glad for, as I wouldn't have bought it myself (I'd have only gone for the more comical Bill Bryson and Peter Moore). Marlena is a middle-aged American woman who meets a Venezian man on one of her trips to Venice, falls in love with him, packs up her life in American and settles down in the watery city within a few months.

She starts off referring to him as "the stranger", until near the end of the novel where she relates their beautiful magical wedding day in Venice, when half the population joins in the celebrations, when she calls him "my husband, who was once the stranger".

There is none of the hyper tone of Belinda Jones, nor the sarcastic complaints of Peter Moore. In their place is the tone of a woman who has faith in what she is doing. Occasionally she injects some humour into her musings, as seen when the florist promises magnificent flowers which the Madonna would provide, and she likes it that the florist and the Madonna "operate on such familiar basis."

The author is a cook by profession and she includes recipes which she or her husband loves, but I, being hopeless in the kitchen, only skimmed through those parts. The rest of the book is simply enchanting.

What Men Think About Sex

2004-08-17T20:52:00.000+08:00

What Men Think About Sex
by Mark Mason
reviewed by Adelynn

2 colleagues set out to win a self-imposed contest to be the first to ask out a sexy new colleague in their office. Rob, the narrator, has to sleep with 5 women in places beginning with C, L, A, R and E, the letters of which spell out the name of the inspiration of the contest. Tim, his competitor, has to sleep with 5 women whose names begin with, you guessed it, C, L, A, R and E.

Rob being the narrator has the advantage of portraying himself as an unwilling participant who got sucked into the contest under the influence of alcohol, and he describes Tim as a feelingless flirt who doesn't care abt the feelings of his conquests.

The author gives Rob a humorous way of narrating events through the use of analogies. I particularly remember and like the one about the seed of Guilt which blossoms into a sapling and grows heavy branches in a matter of moments.

I found the ending for Rob too abrupt and incredible, all nicely wrapped-up, but I would say that Rob has the more exciting adventure in this story. However readers will enjoy and look forward to the ways in which each contestant tries to manipulate each sexual situation to the letter he currently has to complete. A light read and an insight into how dumb men can be. :p

On the Road to Mr Right

2004-07-21T20:51:00.000+08:00

On the Road to Mr Right
by Belinda Jones
reviewed by Adelynn

I picked up this book thinking it was a quirky chick lit novel set in America in the same vein as her other novels (Diva Las Vegas, I Love Capri, The Californian Club). It was only when I started it that I realised it was an actual journey, a travel novel of sorts, only that the main aim of the journey(s) was to look for Love and her Mr Right.

The photos at the beginning of the chapters show her at signposts proclaiming that she's currently at Eden, or Valentine, or, get this, Climax. She picks out towns based on their names and romantic prospects.

Judging by the way she describes some of the hotties she meets, I'm almost tempted to fly to USA to search for eye-candies as well. Other than the descriptions of her Romeos, she also paints vivid pictures of the towns and her lodgings.

She is one rich lady, I can assure you, and after reading her biography on her website, I found out why. She's a rather established writer in the UK, and I even remember her from an article in a UK mag which I read back in 1997. Explains her perchant for glamorous, glitzy hotels with Jacuzzis.

She manages to make her story sound like fiction, yet she also reveals her vulnerable insecurities brought on by men, especially rampant during her time with Punctured Paul. She writes with an almost self-deprecating, can-it-be-true-that-he-fancies-lil-ole-me style. Yet her self-discovery and development can be charted with each town and each hunk. At the end, she emerges confident and aglow.

VIsit the website for some chapters which did not make it into the book, and also pictures from her journey. If you're a single gal in her part of town, there's a brother she'd like to introduce to you...

The Wrong Way Home

2004-07-21T20:21:00.000+08:00

The Wrong Way Home
by Peter Moore
Reviewed by Adelynn

The predecessor to Vroom With a View (see previous entry). This time, the author plots to take the hippie trail (he thinks) from London back to Sydney without hopping upon an aeroplane.

Along with his humorous takes on the people he meets along the way, he also weaves in the current, and sometimes historical, political situations in the Third World countries.

There are nice, trusting people who do not think twice about offering him a free room under their roofs; there are perverts who make him squirmy. There are a handful of developed countries but mostly, they are undeveloped/underdeveloped countries which are war-torn, dangerous for foreigners, polluted or all of the above. Singapore gets barely a two-page mention. No great love there then (I think it's too modernised and pristine for his liking).

I particularly like the part where he has not enough value in his phonecard to make a international call in Tibet to his mum, but enough to call the Australian embassy there to play a prank on the unsuspecting lady.

Does he actually fulfil his wish of travelling home overland all the way? That's for you to find out. I, for one, am inspired to go to Ko Phangan in Bangkok for an idyllic retreat.

Vroom With a View

2004-06-14T19:12:00.000+08:00

Vroom with a View
by Peter Moore
Reviewed by Adelynn

The title caught my eye while I was browsing at Melbourne Airport. Coupled with a cheery picture of a couple on a Vespa, it enticed me to pick it up to read the blurb. I found out that it was a travel narrative, much in the vein of Bill Bryson, set in Italy (another plus point).

The romantic adventure to Italy on a Vespa was a teenage fantasy of the author's, and after reading his escapades, it became mine too.

Sophia the Vespa, named after Sophia Loren, is personified as a temperamental lady, who has to be coaxed into doing things she doesn't like. The author spends much of the time trying to persuade her not to leave him at the bottom of hills, or in the middle of wilderness. The author's partner was pretty impressed though.

I love the descriptions of the cities in Italy. If you're considering visiting Italy, this book will push you over the fence to book your air ticket to Tuscany! Siena! Milano!

I went "Aha!" when he described his impressions of Florence in less-than-glowing terms, much like my personal impression of it.

Each chapter begins with a model of the toy the author gets in his Kinder Surprise. He was waiting for a green Vespa to come along. I found myself looking forward to knowing whether he would get yet another Kitchen Pot Spy, or the elusive green Vespa, at his next meal. How apt it is that he eventually got one in his Kinder Surprise at the end of his journey.

I discovered that there are digital photos of his trip up on his website, and would recommend that you read the book first, then view the photos. Or you could even read it for the second time, while clicking onto the corresponding photo, if you prefer to be an armchair traveller.

Blankets

2004-06-12T18:36:00.000+08:00

"Blankets" - a story of first love
by Craig Thompson

Reviewed by Dax

"We both knew that nothing existed for us outside of the moment"

I read a graphic novel today entitled Blankets, by Craig Thompson, printed by TopShelf Comix. It's a two-fold story about first love and family. The story is held together by a motif I can only describe as Christian belief. The author describes the story as "a really long book where nothing happens.. structured around an emotional experience of sleeping next to someone for the first time".

Time Magazine describes it as "... a rarity: a first-love story so well remembered and honest that it reminds you what falling in love feels like... achingly beautiful."

You know the feeling of discovering love for the first time, and you think back fondly on it occasionally. I always thought my experience was unique and almost laughable in some instances. But when I read Blankets, I realise how so many of us out there probably share similar experiences. Of the yearning, of the exclusivity, of the importance, of the hiding, of the oneness. Through the pages of the graphic novel, I was skilfully transported back to a plane of feeling, serving to remind me of a past that was almost forgotten. It allows the reader to identify with the pains of growing up and finding love.

I read the book, and felt like falling in love all over again.. to embark on a journey, to learn more about that special person, to share the problems ahead, and to have that special companionship through it all. It's that nice warm feeling you get from watching romantic comedies. To imagine a love. To feel it. To live it. To be blinded by a total infatuation from all the errors of the world. That feeling of bliss that wipes away your pain, and makes all problems seem small and totally conquerable. In the book, Thompson parallels this to the blanketing of the world with the year's first snowfall, a way to escape from what lies beneath.

But like all great loves, reality will soon set in with the melting of snow, and soon, the landscape changes revealing the inevitable indelibilities. "Nothing fits anymore". And of course, the age-old query - to ask why.

It probably helps that the artwork compliments the story so well. Thompson is able to convey the feeling of being a frightened helpless child as well as expressing the blinding joy of being in love. The absence of conversation or text even is used to
dramatic effect.

I sincerely recommend this graphic novel. It is groundbreaking in a sense because it is a story that is centred around an emotional experience, rather than being action-packed with the flip of every page. Being a hefty 582 page graphic novel, and available in
Kinokuniya, I wasn't surprised to find out it retails for about S$60. I believe it would be entirely worth it - open it again several years down the road and let the experience take effect once again.

Praise for 'Blankets'

Craig
Thompson's website - more previews!

Pansing Warehouse Sale

2004-05-28T01:12:00.000+08:00

Books warehouse sale. Looking for good books at a low price? Book distributor, Pansing is holding a warehouse sale for fiction, non-fiction and children's books. Enjoy discounts up to 80%.

Date: 28 May - 2 June, 10am to 7pm
Add: 438 Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 1
off Ang Mo Kio Ave 10

Take bus 261 from Ang Mo Kio MRT station or bus 55 from Bishan bus interchange.

Inventory of Travel Guides

2004-05-25T20:55:00.000+08:00

My cache of travel guides, in case anyone's planning a backpacking trip to Europe:

Fodor's Austria, Denmark and Norway
Open Road Publishing - Italy Guide
Ferguson-Kosinki - 2000 Europe by Eurail
Frommer's Munich and the Bavarian
Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Manhattan
Timeout - Rome Guide
Citypack - Toronto
Thomas Cook - Travellers Belgium
The Essential Series - Essential Amsterdam

Drop me a tag if you wish to borrow them. I got them from the National Library Sale.

Information on Book Sales

2004-05-25T20:46:00.000+08:00

Anyone with knowledge of upcoming book sales, please email to us at bookaholicsblog@hotmail.com to inform us!

The Remains Of The Day

2004-05-12T21:00:00.000+08:00

The Remains Of The Day
by Kazuo Ishiguro

Reviewed by: Alvan

Dear Mr Stevens,
I cannot explain exactly why your story touched me so. And as I read, it also made me, in turn, frustrated, angry, sad and wistful.

Perhaps I can. Yours is a story of unspoken and unexpressed love, missed opportunities and, dare I say it, noble self-sacrifice, though I am not sure whether you see it that way.

At various times during your account, I wanted to yell at you: "To heck with dignity! Loosen up! Tell her! Console her!" And I can assure you I wanted to yell it with.. well,I do not know, despair? feeling? anger?

You know why she brought flowers for your room, you know why she was so upset that you never shared your feelings--your true feelings--with her about the matter of the sacked girls, you know why she cried that day. Subconsciously, you know all these. You do. So why didn't you?

Your self-control, self-restraint and professionalism are of the highest order and are impossible to be faulted, of course. In fact, your devotion to your work reminds me of the West Point motto of 'Honour. Duty. Country.' Even though that is un-British, American in fact. Even so, I am willing to wager your conduct far surpassed anything that distinguished academy has ever produced.

You, sir, are the very epitome of the 'stiff upper lip' we foreigners have come to associate with the English. Yet, to extend this, to be so precise, so prim, so proper, in our private lives as well only serves to degrade and devalue the meaning of life.

Don't we--all of us, every one of us--have the right to happiness, to love, to live, and to emotions too? The right to express these? True dignity is when we do as much for ourselves in our personal realms as when we discharge our public duties.

Like Lord Darlington, you are fundamentally a decent man. And like him, perhaps 'misguided', as you say so yourself. I would term it sadly, grossly misguided, not out of any intention of malice or ill-will towards you, as I trust you would understand, but rather, out of a certain heartache and melancholy.

There are occasions when it is necessary--when it is, indeed, essential--that we let go of ourselves, of the deeply ingrained habits of a lifetime, and give expression to our inner feelings. Otherwise, as Miss Kenton says so truly, we are only pretending. Why? Why pretend?

Do forgive my outburst and for being so judgmental. It is not often--in fact, it is an extremely rare occurrence--that I vent my feelings in such an undignified (I hope you accept my use of this word is not a dig at you) manner.

I am consoled, however, that you have found some measure of acceptance and enclosure--normally, I detest this word but somehow it feels apprioprate here--in the end. Yes, it is over, we can't look back anymore. We have to move on, and make the best of what we have and what we have achieved.

Lastly I wish you luck in your attempts to perfect the art of bantering. It appears that you have finally glimpsed what this 'human warmth' is about, and I am happy, very happy, for you. You deserve this happiness.

Yours,
A Reader

P/S: I love your little essays on the English countryside. What else could have given me this sudden desire to traipse about those places you described so beautifully?

Wind, Sand and Stars

2004-05-12T20:44:00.000+08:00

Wind, Sand And Stars
by Antonio de Saint-Exupery

Reviewed by: Alvan

The key themes of Saint-Ex's 1937 novel echo in his latter, most famous work "The Little Prince" (1943), in the lyrical, poetic passages about the joys and hazards of flying in the early years of commercial air mail, in the philosophical reflections of Man's relationship with his fellow men, in the anguished pleas for an end to the cruelty, bigotry and suffering humanity needlessly inflicts upon itself.

"Why should we hate one another? We all live in the same cause, are borne through life on the same planet, form the crew of the same ship. Civilisation may, indeed, compete to bring forth new syntheses, but it is monstrous that they should devour one another."

However, the last third of the book (from which the above quote is taken) seems disjointed and detached from the earlier parts. He describes his part and experiences in the Spanish Civil War, and interpersed this with his observations of the morality, purpose and futility of war.

And in his thoughts and tribute to those pilots who perished in the line of duty, one feels prophecy and poignancy in those lines.

The most compelling part of the book, for me, is the account of his crash landing in the desert, where he and his flying companion had a harrowing escape from death. Surviving the crash, but nearly dying of thirst, exhaustion and dehydration from aimless wandering, seeing mirages of water and rescuers (either it's really funny or my sense of perverse humour acting up again), and the eventual salvation by a passing Arab caravan.

What do you think of when you find yourself stranded in the middle of a desert, with hardly any water for three days, near certain death? When talk turns to "Thank God we've got a gun"? Is it possible to find a kind of peace, to accept the ultimate end without regrets and bitterness? What are all the material possessions and gains in the world compared to the things that truly matter?

Saint-Ex made me think, as always. I have to admit I've yet to come close. Thought I had, and the thought was real enough to make it no different from the actual thing. Faced an open casket. Been frightened, sad and angry by the thought of it. But no, never close to it in the most practical sense.

But now, I am accepting of it. The beginning and the ending are simple. It's what we do in between which is not. And which is important. And which is in our hands.

"...I know what I love. It is life."